I purchased three of these, 2 fulls and 1 queen. I appear to be pretty stable, however assembly does take a lot of patience. Each piece that connects the joints use metal brackets. The fit is very tight and requires you to assemble each step loosely and once all the screws are in (not all the way), then only should you tighten each joint, otherwise it'll take you a really long time to get the screws to line up to the holes. All the parts are shipped in the bed board make the box fairly flat and easy to transport. the slat wood bards are arched and thinner than i would like, I suppose with a box spring or heavy mattress, the slates will flatten out. the appearance of and color of material is true to the item displayed in the picture.