Once upon a time, four-year-old Audy Cziglar asked Santa Claus for Christmas decorations. From then on, his bedroom held a brightly-lit, decorated tree in the corner all year long—and so began his relationship with the holiday season that would become the backbone of his career.
Today, all grown up, Audy is widely known as a seasonal decorator extraordinaire with two boutiques of his own. Antoinette & Co. and Tinseltown Christmas Emporium on Somerset Street West, carry French country, shabby chic, old-world home décor gift items, as well as nostalgic, traditional and classic, charm-influenced Christmas decorations.
Audy describes the shops as the land of plenty. “We focus on abundance, over the top with no clean lines,” says the holiday enthusiast.
ART OF DISPLAY
Audy brings the copious look to his downtown condo with every nook, cranny and corner dressed for the season. With no formal designer or decorator training, his talent is obvious, with artfully created holiday, vignettes filling his home. He credits his Hungarian grandmother Katherine for his gift of display. “She loved the frill and ornateness of objects which is where I think my love of them was shaped.”
Throughout the small three-room condo you’ll find a table set for a holiday brunch, while the island is dressed in a dessert theme. Nativity scenes and other religious symbols combine with macabre-looking dolls taking on the form of a baby in a manger. Audy has two heavily-decorated, brightly-lit trees; one, of course, in the bedroom and one in the living room.
PINK & BLUE
His year-round colour scheme of antique white and robin’s egg blue is ideal for this season’s hot colour combination of blue and pink. He notes that the latest colour trends in holiday décor are pairings such as rose-gold with burgundy, black and gold, purple and champagne, chartreuse and cream—all elements he manages to fit into his relatively small home. While he truly adopts a “more-is-more” approach, the lighter colour scheme helps to keep it all from being overpowering.
MUSINGS
It’s easy to forget that Audy’s condo is part of a slick brand-new building. The front entrance has room for a Bergère-style chair and faux fireplace that set the tone for European-inspired décor. Old-world influences make their mark throughout.
“I love Christmas of the 1800s—thick evergreen and cedar garlands scalloped and draped over door frames and adorned with fresh fruit,” he says. “Also, I love the 1920s old-world German blown-glass balls with the reflector indent.”
Audy’s vintage passions include the 1950s as well with an affinity for, “silver Mylar tinsel that glistened with the light-frosted ceramic C9 large Christmas lights,” which he says die-hard Christmas fanatics would understand. Musing over Christmas memories, he recalls, “The multicolour bubble lights would get so hot, it wasn’t surprising that trees would catch on fire!”
While Audy has decorated for multiple clients in the past, his boutiques are enough to nurture his passions. Now, he only decorates for one client during the holiday season. “Even though I have been given carte blanche most times, it’s not the same as decorating in my own store or in my own home. I am my biggest client!”
AUDY’S TOP 2019 HOLIDAY DÉCOR TRENDS
- Vintage reproductions of ceramic trees. Usually something your aunt or grandma made in a ceramics class years ago, but now a highly-coveted piece of nostalgic art.
- Clear bubble lights that give an old-world charm, but with a contemporary twist.
- Glitter domes! The traditional snow globe mixes a light, a fan and glitter inside the snow globe for a magical illusion. They are available with a wide variety of Christmas scenes inside.
- Personalized ornaments. We can customize any ornament with a smooth surface in store.
- Flameless battery pillars, tapers, votives and tea lights. The safest way to illuminate your home this holiday season.
- Wooden advent calendars are truly an heirloom to be passed down from generation to generation. Each calendar has a big enough door to add a candy, ornament or gift for the first 24 days of December.
- Sequined ballerina slippers are such a fun gift. Catch everyone’s eye at holiday parties or Christmas morning with glistening tootsie warmers.
- Christmas-printed toilet paper. Every guest who uses your loo this holiday season will be in awe!
Mary Taggart
