Love the bed, and was actually surprised how sturdy it is for being fake wood. I'm a big guy, so I went to home depot and bought a 4x4 beam and cut 4 pieces to about 12" and added some additional support in the middle of the bed (simple wood screws from the top down are fine) for those times I decide to elbow drop my better half during one of our wrestlin' sessions JUST IN CASE. As far as rustic appeal, it looks fantastic in person and the pics online don't do it justice.