I wanted to love this bed. I like it. It is a beautiful dark cherry/walnut color, but though it is a "solid" wood bed, it is surprisingly fragile. It definitely isn't solid like Amish hardwood furniture. I would say it is step above particle board, but definitely not what I would think of as solid wood. Though I had the white glove install and am not rough on my furniture, it already has a few knicks and scratches that show up as white/light pine and are very obvious against the darker stain of the wood. It does creak a little, which will probably lead me to installing some foam along the back where the headboard pushes against my wall. I have 13 inch hybrid memory foam mattress and found the bed is pretty tall (as other reviewers noted). I am really glad I went with a smaller profile box spring (7"), otherwise the mattress would be too high up. If you want a normal mattress height, a 5-7" box spring is perfect with a thicker mattress.