This exceeded our expectations by a long shot. I was very worried based on previous reviews that the metal was cheap, weak, and very hollow feeling. I feel quite the opposite. It seems sturdy, strong, and looks amazing. The finials were very easy to put on the top of the posts, we were confused how that could have been difficult in the first place. The metal seems strong. The directions were clear. The headboard is very nice. Somewhere between the previous negative posts and our purchase, it seems a QA team somewhere made some really nice tweaks to this bed and its a wonderful addition to our guest bedroom. A+!