I figured it out! AND that my friends is saying a lot. I hate putting furniture together. Always a frustrating experience. For this bed: The instructions applied to a variety of types of beds. ie. beds with undercarriage drawers, or beds with a box spring, etc. The instructions however didn't match other instructions on which legs (short vs. long) to use. Highly confusing which led to a lot of screwing (not the good kind) and unscrewing which put a ton of wear and tear on the phillips screw heads almost to the point of stripping them. So...in the end a ton of stripping and screwing, and that was all BEFORE using the bed for its proper purpose: love throne to the gods. Best advice: make sure you line up the reinforcer legs to the bed frame to ensure the correct parts are used.