102908loft01.jpgWe stumbled across this February 1976 issue of ‘Home Journal’ for just 40cents at our favourite op shop over the weekend and with and the feature article made us want to pull out our childhood meccano set and get making! Unfortunately, we didn’t have anywhere near enough pieces or the need for a loft bed complete with staircase, built in desk and wardrobe. Maybe you do? Click below for more great pictures of the construction of the loft and our male models pants…

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1. The loft that is being built is from Aero Designs in South Yarra and contains 167 components and over 500 nuts and bolts. This is as much technical detail as the article gives. However, it does mention that “Bob and Francesca, in their colour co-ordinated gear, share a joke.”
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2 and 3. The stairs are built to the current safety standard by Bob
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4. Once the structure is completed then all the bolts are tightened to make it ridged. The sawn steps, bed base, shelving and desk are put in place.
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6 and 7. A close up on the desk and storage sections.

While we may not have learnt that much from the written article, we found it really interesting to read what design magazines used to be like. With only a few coloured pages, their DIY section [there is also a timber drinks trolley] is all based on constructing flat-pack furniture. If we were to open a current magazine to find instructions on Ikea furniture we didn’t own, it would be disappointing.

What have your experiences been with vintage design magazines been?

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