Very easy to put together and very sturdy. My 8 year old loves the bed and it opens up the room tremendously. 

Only 1 small issue with assembly. There is a cross beam that requires you make holes in the headboard and foot board by screwing in a bracket. The holes are not pre-drilled and If you follow the directions by installing the brackets for the cross beam (1st or 2nd step) you will likely end up needing to make new holes. My suggestion is to wait until you put the slats under the bed on, screw the cross beam into the slats, THEN install the support brackets for the support beam. That is unless the manufacturer decides to pre-drill the holes.