It took approximately 2 hours of putting together with the wife. I don't know how someone would be able to place their box springs on this without it covering the headboard entirely. That's kind of a bummer - I thought it would have a way to increase the height of the headboard to accommodate. So, that kinda sucks. At the end of the day - my first order on Wayfair was a success. It shipped quickly and I didn't notice any damage to the bed.