The futon looks almost exactly as pictured, however I was shocked to find out that the back was open except for a flap of fabric... not connected, OPEN.  This became a problem as I was not planning on placing it against a wall and my 1-yr-old puppy pulled out everything that I stored beneath it and scattered it around the living room.  A roll of black velcro later, and we were back in business.  I was able to assemble it by myself, though the instructions were a bit confusing, as the pictures drawn didn't look like the parts of the futon they were supposed to represent - some creative interpretations were needed to figure out what they meant.  (I'm a 5' 3", girl)  Also, when mine was delivered one of the bed-side legs that pull out was broken off and needs to be screwed back in, but it doesn't seem like the futon really NEEDS those legs to function.  Also, the black pillows look as cheap as they do in the pictures, but are actually more comfortable than you'd think.