This bed is awesome looking, the wood is of top quality and it is very sturdy. It arrived in a very well packaged box and all the parts were in perfect condition. I bought it for my teen age son for the few weeks he is home, when back from college (in grey). He helped put it together. Took 3 of us to do it and it was a fun family project that took about 2-3hrs. The directions are incredibly well written and all the parts have a number on their end, the directions refer to. My son did not want the ladder nor the front railing. The bed looks more adult this way, and since he is tall he has no problem getting on the bed without the ladder. After many weeks of research and comparisons, I am delighted with this choice.