Palace Trader

A new Petersham boutique sells a swag of antique finds from the French countryside. By Emma Joyce

Sydney couple Gavin Sainsbury and Scott Jenkins spent a month travelling across France, rummaging for vintage finds and homewares to stock their shop on Palace Street. Filled with vintage posters, glassware and oak furniture, the store is their first retail venture after years of collecting antiques as a hobby.

Sainsbury is an animatronics puppeteer who’s worked on live spectaculars such as How to Train Your Dragon and Walking with Dinosaurs. As he is required to travel for work, the couple would drive out to warehouses and people’s backyard sales to find antiques. Finds include a 1920s mirror that’s decorated with aged splits in the glass – Jenkins tells us it’s from a café in Lyon – and a large wooden table in the centre of the room was formerly a baker’s workbench.

They each have a full-time job, so the Petersham shop is only open on Wednesdays and weekends. But since the 19th century building is also their home, they’re open by appointment, too. “The space was once a barber shop,” says Jenkins. “It was also an antiques store called Ted’s Treasures, and a glazier’s and a dressmaker’s too. So the place has history.”

“We like the painted, salvaged look,” says Sainsbury. His favourite object was one that’s already flown off the shelf: an industrial mixing implement made of oak and metal. “It was the one piece that I fell in love with.” Jenkins jokes that sometimes he just can’t let go of some of the things they’ve found. “My tip is to buy what you love. That’s the most important thing.”

Palace Trader 53 Palace St, Petersham 2049. 0404 838 433. palacetrader.com. Wed & Sat 9am-5pm; Sun 9am-2pm.

A large wooden table was once a baker’s workbench