Houzz Tours
My Houzz: Big Kids and Little Kids in a Comic Book Home
A creative couple make a bold statement with colour and clever design
This is a home of ordered objects, happy inhabitants and an emporium of comic collections and tiny toys. The instant you walk into the two-bedroom apartment in Five Dock, you can feel the love. Rochelle and Wojciech Wawrzyniak live here with their two sons, Roman and Adrian, and have used their design expertise and shared love of comic books to bring their abode to life. Rochelle is an art director and Wojciech is an industrial designer. Combined, they have used their skills to create a completely unique decor that is both wonderfully technical and beautiful.
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Rochelle and Wojciech Wawrzyniak and their sons, Roman, 5, and Adrian, 2
Location: Five Dock, Sydney
Size: 102 square metres (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom)
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: Rochelle and Wojciech Wawrzyniak and their sons, Roman, 5, and Adrian, 2
Location: Five Dock, Sydney
Size: 102 square metres (2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom)
Rochelle admits that she and Wojciech are nerds. They share a love of bold colours, comics and vinyl toys, and it characterises the home. “I think a place will always be happy with bold colours,” she says.
Rochelle painted this Tintin scene for Wojciech as a birthday present. “We both love Tintin so when we got married, our collection doubled!” she says.
Wall paint in ‘Fluoro Green’: Dulux
Rochelle painted this Tintin scene for Wojciech as a birthday present. “We both love Tintin so when we got married, our collection doubled!” she says.
Wall paint in ‘Fluoro Green’: Dulux
With two little boys running around, potential accidents lurk around every corner. To avoid this, Rochelle and Wojciech have created a safe haven with the help of clever design. They have kept all of their intricate decorations above waist level, so they are out of reach from their sons. Below the waist furnishings are simple and sturdy.
Rochelle notes that this design plan allowed the kids to be kids without the risk of breaking anything. “I would want them to remember their first home as something fun and free without having to tiptoe around Mum and Dad’s stuff,” she adds.
Rochelle notes that this design plan allowed the kids to be kids without the risk of breaking anything. “I would want them to remember their first home as something fun and free without having to tiptoe around Mum and Dad’s stuff,” she adds.
The open-plan living and dining area is spacious and makes the most of the natural light that streams through the windows. With two energetic boys exploring the house, it makes it easy for the couple to keep an eye on what they’re up to.
Rochelle says it’s also where most of the fun takes place. “The boys love helping in the kitchen as well as pretending in their own kitchen.”
The secondhand toy kitchen is a project the couple worked on together as a gift to the boys. Previously owned and loved by two little girls, Rochelle and Wojciech customised it to be a model of their own kitchen. They matched paint swatches and even designed the chrome details with Adobe Illustrator and laser cut them onto dual-layered acrylic.
The secondhand toy kitchen is a project the couple worked on together as a gift to the boys. Previously owned and loved by two little girls, Rochelle and Wojciech customised it to be a model of their own kitchen. They matched paint swatches and even designed the chrome details with Adobe Illustrator and laser cut them onto dual-layered acrylic.
Mum and Dad also share toys with the boys. Wojciech made this chalkboard Munny for Rochelle as a present and the four of them regularly erase and draw new designs on it.
At the time, the cost of purchasing and shipping the figure from America was too expensive, so Wojciech used his resources to make one. He downloaded the file, 3D-printed the figure, and then sanded and painted it with chalkboard paint. “Being able to wash off the designs to start again makes it a gift that keeps on giving,” says Rochelle. “I often use it for seasonal celebrations – for instance, last Christmas, I drew Santa on it.”
At the time, the cost of purchasing and shipping the figure from America was too expensive, so Wojciech used his resources to make one. He downloaded the file, 3D-printed the figure, and then sanded and painted it with chalkboard paint. “Being able to wash off the designs to start again makes it a gift that keeps on giving,” says Rochelle. “I often use it for seasonal celebrations – for instance, last Christmas, I drew Santa on it.”
The figurines that line the bookshelves are mementos from a trip to LA, in which the family visited Kidrobot. “We were taking photos in there like it was a tourist destination,” says Rochelle. “The staff were really friendly; they gave my one-year-old a free toy just for being cute!”
While there’s no denying the couple are collectors, Rochelle says that it’s important to them that their home is still organised as apartment living can be tightly packed. They had to adopt minimalist tendencies to make room for a growing family.
To do this, they gave away their two-seater couch after the arrival of Roman, and their large ottoman when Adrian was born. This then created more room in the living area. “My sons can see climbing and self-launching potential in any piece of furniture. Also, having to store less makes tidying up so much easier,” says Rochelle.
To do this, they gave away their two-seater couch after the arrival of Roman, and their large ottoman when Adrian was born. This then created more room in the living area. “My sons can see climbing and self-launching potential in any piece of furniture. Also, having to store less makes tidying up so much easier,” says Rochelle.
Everything has its place in the home and the process of elimination comes down to one simple rule: “If it doesn’t have much function, we’d better love the way it looks,” says Rochelle.
Rochelle uses the example of her sons’ toy collection to explain this rule of thumb. “If they get a new toy, they have to reevaluate what to do with an old toy,” she says. “It teaches them compassion and self-control when selecting which of their toys go and which stay. She says that explaining the role of charities helps them to understand that they are helping someone as opposed to losing a toy.”
As an art director, Rochelle uses her critical eye to direct her own home’s aesthetic. “Sometimes wars are waged over small things like hanging wall art. For example, the tilt of the dinosaur bust – we had to consult a spirit level. I won,” she says.
Rochelle says the wall art is a compromise between Wojciech’s movie mania and their shared love of comic books. It means that the eye is always drawn to some detail in the room and blurs the line between where the kids’ toys end and where the couple’s begins.
Rochelle says the wall art is a compromise between Wojciech’s movie mania and their shared love of comic books. It means that the eye is always drawn to some detail in the room and blurs the line between where the kids’ toys end and where the couple’s begins.
The home has undergone minor renovations, but with the help of Wojciech’s dad, who’s a builder, they have managed to keep costs down.
The original gunmetal carpet was replaced with floorboards. They also installed new pendant lights, and replaced the glass in the shower and the showerhead. The wall colours were also changed from a light grey to ‘Antique White USA’, fluoro green and deep purple.
The original gunmetal carpet was replaced with floorboards. They also installed new pendant lights, and replaced the glass in the shower and the showerhead. The wall colours were also changed from a light grey to ‘Antique White USA’, fluoro green and deep purple.
The couple surround themselves with creativity and are regularly spoilt with gifts of beautiful artwork from their artistic friends. The laser-etched skate deck is by their friend Ron Cobb.
A similar collection of graphic artwork can also be seen in the home’s entryway.
The fun continues in the boys’ bedroom. The bright colour scheme and loft bed make it the ideal place for them to play and sleep. It’s one of Rochelle’s favourite spaces. “It’s small with a lot going on but I think it has a good balance of stuff and space,” she says.
Wojciech made the loft bed with the help of his dad and a friend. They then incorporated shelving space underneath the bed instead of buying freestanding bookshelves and storage, which Rochelle says really helped make the space feel larger.
Wojciech made the loft bed with the help of his dad and a friend. They then incorporated shelving space underneath the bed instead of buying freestanding bookshelves and storage, which Rochelle says really helped make the space feel larger.
The wall art in the bedroom has sentimental value to Rochelle. She illustrated the boxing girl for a magazine several years ago and had it enlarged for a canvas. Roman also added to the gallery with a melamine plate that he painted during daycare.
“For us, it’s important to encourage the boys’ creativity by displaying their work in the home,” she says. The tapestry was made for the boys by their paternal grandmother’s best friend in Poland.
“For us, it’s important to encourage the boys’ creativity by displaying their work in the home,” she says. The tapestry was made for the boys by their paternal grandmother’s best friend in Poland.
Rochelle says that when they first moved into the apartment, their bedroom didn’t get nearly as much light as the living and dining areas. She thought that painting it a happy yellow would be the answer, but quickly regretted her decision. “The result was less than chirpy. I endured the sadness of looking at that wall for two years because I didn’t want to admit I chose the wrong colour.”
She got it right the second time with ‘Private Tone’ by Dulux. The wall colour in here is her favourite in the whole apartment and works well with the limited available light in the room.
She got it right the second time with ‘Private Tone’ by Dulux. The wall colour in here is her favourite in the whole apartment and works well with the limited available light in the room.
The artwork above the bed is a myriad of things the couple collected before they had children. The tapestry hoop, bottom right, features the print of a T-shirt Rochelle had many adventures in while wearing. The paper fan was given to Rochelle by her mum who was completing a scholarship in Japan at the time, and the comic book in the wooden frame was signed by Shihad around midnight on a carefree night at the Metro.
My Houzz is an ongoing series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes in Australia and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more inspiring projects.
My Houzz is an ongoing series in which we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes in Australia and the people who inhabit them. Share your home with us and see more inspiring projects.
The home has an abundance of clever decor, which Rochelle and Wojciech are personally responsible for: “We’re designers, so as for the design team, you’re looking at them,” she says. The two met at university while Rochelle was studying visual communications and Wojciech was finishing his degree in industrial design. While neither of them studied interior design, Rochelle believes that creativity can be translated into many forms.
Subtle elements throughout the home showcase the couple’s talent for design. One of Rochelle’s favourite features is a reoccurring circular motif – you can see some examples in the kitchen via the hot air balloon and round pendant lights, and further throughout the home in artwork.