We are redoing my 12 yr old son’s bedroom and chose this bed in gray color, which is good for a small 9x10foot bedroom and looks great with the paint color he chose. The loft bed allows us to put bookcases under it and he’s excited to get a couple of bean bags to put under there too, for hanging out with friends. We put the desk out the outside of the bed - love the versatility - which gives him more space underneath the bed and maximizes our room space. We love the options of putting the ladder and the desk on either end of the bed! My 12 & 10 yr old sons and I put this bed together ourselves, which was actually fun and gave us a good opportunity for teamwork and made us feel good about our accomplishment! When assembling the sides, you definitely need more than one person to assemble because one person must hold the side rails up while the other person attaches them to the end pieces.