Definitely value for money, the grey is lighter than I expected which is also a plus. The seat is actually quite comfortable, I can't comment on how long the sponge will last as I've only had it for just over a week. Once filled it's very sturdy, we move it Alot as its used as a seat for our dressing table. One negative is that the frame of the lid, the wood used isn't solid, as one end slightly detached as we was putting the lid on for the first time and we didn't use Alot of force, I managed to fix it.