Appearance is nice, we really like the look of the bed and so do the kids. It is real wood however, it seems to be some type of Brazilian pine which is a soft wood the bed is made in Brazil. Now the part as to why we were not happy with the purchase. First, when we opened the boxes and began assembling the bed we noticed two spots of damage to the frame of the bed which reveals the natural looking wood and the damage is pretty noticeable. Second there is a very obnoxious and almost headache causing odor that emanates from the wood, its an almost kerosene type odor.  It was so bad we ended up buying odor absorbents and leaving the ceiling fan and door open for almost a week to keep the smell at bay. If I would have known I would not have purchased this item for mainly the odor and secondly the damage from not being packaged adequately. I would probably be hesitant with purchasing this item or recommending. Hope this helps any of you looking to purchase.