I purchased these stools in the beige color, but as other reviewers have said - they are actually more of a light gray color, which I absolutely love. The dark base creates a really nice contrast with the upholstered seat. Putting it together was very simple but I ran into a small problem when screwing in the base to the bottom of the seat. The holes on the metal base did not 100% line up with the holes on the seat. I easily solved the issue by halfway screwing in a screw, adjusting the base to align with the next hole, and so on. When all screws were halfway in I went back and finished screwing in the screws tightly and securely. Overall, I definitely recommend this product.