Vintage pieces like a dentist’s medical cabinet mix with industrial baubles on display under domed glass. Together they produce a distinctly creepy cool atmosphere.

Presiding at the creative helm is Phil Freire, who owns the shop with his sis, Maggie Gattesco. A graphic artist turned tinkerer-sculptural artist, Freire has played around with cars and old machinery for years and tells me he just loves making stuff.

Freire says he likes putting new tops on cool (read: old industrial) legs – in fact there’s a desk matching this description he likes so much, he took it off the selling floor.

But this isn’t a man’s man space, with items just heaped on the floor – thanks to Freire’s designer girlfriend everything is arranged into artful tableaus that exude that artist’s workshop/ laboratory-esque feel.

And there are some distinctive, carefully sourced gifty elements amid the reclaimed wood pieces, old metal safety deposit boxes and vintage bowling balls – which, if it weren’t for their simple (and oh so stylish) package design, almost border on the girly.

Take the bath products by Tokyo Blossom: the 1L orange blossom bath bubbles, $55, smells heavenly, but not too cloying, and the bottle would impress any design buff, male or female.

Aside from the dismantled desk hiding in the back, Freire’s fave piece in the store is a huge flashing arrow with “Kiss of Love” on it. You can find everything from a metal STD sign to a brass funeral post. For the slightly quirky collector.

2989 Dundas St. West 647-343-7800  www.metropolis-living.com


Over at Mjölk, John Baker and Juli Daoust have been going strong for almost a year in their Scandinavian design shop.

The space is like a crisp white piece of snow, slightly museum-like in feel, but with way more warmth, thanks to the teak wood shelf paneling showcasing handcrafted pieces by artists from Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Japan.

I almost expect to see a roaring fireplace in the back of the store, which is like a cozy living room – Baker tells me he’d love one, too.

Practical utensil-like pieces – brushes, shoe horns, brooms – are displayed like the works of art they are, with simplicity and reverence. Teak shoe horns by a Japanese artist, $70 and $100, are sculpturally beautiful and practical.

I overhear Baker telling someone they receive only a few Pia Wallén blankets, the original Crux or cross blanket produced in Sweden, as the company makes about a 100 as year. There’s a green and white one in the back, languishing on a contemporary Scandinavian style sofa.

Lovely wooden toys are in abundance and would make for unforgettable, non-disposable holiday gifts.

Meanwhile a rocking sheep handmade with wood and sheep wool, around $550, is the store’s unofficial mascot.

There’s something about Mjölk that makes me want to revel in simplicity, to de-clutter, to cuddle up in front of a fire, to calm down and appreciate the world around me. I don’t get that Zen feeling from many stores; it’s almost anti-consumerist even though it makes me want to go back – and I like it.

2959 Dundas St. West, 416-551-9853  www.mjolk.ca