Not sure if I would be so positive on a lighter color but the dark brown color looks great.  Need two people for parts of the assembly (unless you have a third arm) but when built is solid.  The distance to the bottom of the bed is narrow so even our regular non-pillowtop twin mattresses were too tall to go under meaning we had to go out and purchase a special 'thin' mattress adding an expense we did not anticipate.   As a spare bed the trundle will be fine and the top level, as a daily bed for our college aged daughter when she is home, is fantastic.