After getting a pie from the Braidwood Bakery, generations of Canberrans have ambled next door to the treasure trove that is the Bernardoff's antiques and mid-century store, fossicking through the cavernous former garage for something special to take home.

Opening the glass-windowed wooden door, customers walked into a one-of-a-kind space, where you could find a Parker Furniture sideboard next to a Eames lounge chair, with a pile of vintage Life magazines by their side. It was a mid-century furniture fan's dream.

People sometimes got lost in the looking.