It came well packaged and took me and one other person a couple of hours to assemble. It has a rough finish/texture which I wasn't expecting but it's a nice dark grey color (not so dark that I would call it charcoal). I got the bed with drawers only on one side so I could use the open side to store many larger items under the bed (4 medium sized totes easily fit under there). I was worried the open side would look weird but with a large quilt you don't notice. Overall I'm happy with the bed. There was some damaged to the bookcase and footboard which is unfortunate given the price of the bed.