Wow!  This bed is awesome!  It is so beautiful and solidly made.  We are very impressed with how it went together.  A lot of reviews talked about how long it took, but we used a drill with a hex screw attachment and were done in no time!  We put this in our guest room, but loved it so much we contemplated buying one for our master bedroom!  The slates are help in by both a peg and velcro and are very sturdy. 
 Highly recommend!