Overall I like this bed especially at this price I would say its closer to black than chocolate but I like the color and the look with the tufted headboard. A few things to note I have the full size and do have a gap of about an inch on the sides of the mattress, I measuered and its 56 inches from inside of side rail to the other side which accounts for the space. Also on the full size the slats are 3 12 to 3 34 inches apart not 2 12 as stated in the Q&A section, this may matter for folks with latex or memory foam mattress. Finally, I took Patricia's advise on how to install and it worked brilliantly and made installing the slats a snap.