We decided to treat ourselves to an upgrade from a queen, to a king mattress so I ordered this to go along with it. I can't tell you how much I enjoy it. I put it together, by myself, in about 20 minutes. The surrounding rails are padded and upholstered. The frame itself, along with the cross bars are very sound and supportive. The only tool you need comes with the bed and is as simple as tightening bolts. Then, when you finish the footed frame, you simply lay the slats down the center, and just like that, your bed frame is put together. I especially like that the slats have strips of Velcro to keep them in place...something IKEA should look into as my daughters bed slates are always moving about. I'm so glad I shopped around. I ended up buying this base and a king memory foam mattress for the total cost of what a similar mattress would cost by itself. Thank you for such a great product.