Shop Here: Goodfolk

Editor’s note: Goodfolk is now closed. This feature story was published in winter 2014.

Folksy furniture, retro Canadiana and select new, handmade items fill Matt Hodgins and Emilie Dolenc’s vintage furniture shop – the result of a modern romance. Two years ago, the young couple spent one of their first dates rummaging through the St. Lawrence Market’s Antiques Market. Dolenc’s background as a textile designer gives her a fondness for colourful patterns and handcrafted textiles from around the world, while Hodgins, a graphic designer, gravitates toward industrial pieces and items that have typographical elements.

The duo’s shared love of rare finds soon developed into an addiction to weekend estate sales in nearby towns. They even picked up a trusty Dodge Caravan so they would have space to ferry back bigger items – and somewhere to sleep on longer trips.

As their collections of treasures outgrew their apartments, Dolenc and Hodgins decided to move in together and open a store that merges their aesthetics. They now live above Goodfolk in a brick building at Broadview Avenue and Dundas Street East. The reno-ed retail space features floors made of reclaimed wood from an arena in Stratford and a sliding barn door discovered near Bancroft – two salutes to rural Ontario, where a lot of the shop’s antiques were found.

SHOP HERE FOR: Furniture and decor that bring rustic charm to big-city homes. Desks, trunks and armoires from days of yore hold artful compositions of globes (from $25) discovered around Belleville and weathered bowling pins ($25 each) from Combermere. In the corner, a lovingly worn Remington typewriter ($225) found in Mississauga sits atop a metal filing cabinet ($425) hauled all the way from Upstate New York.

BEST BET: Fans of the Life Aquatic aesthetic will love maritime decor pieces like a needlepoint portrait of a sailor. Near the entrance, a coat rack holds an assortment of large nautical flags ($70) featuring graphic patterns done in bright blues and yellows.