This is a very sturdy, well-made, and heavy bed. I took it out of the box before I brought it in to make it easier to carry. I'm wimpy though! It was easy to put together, but I recommend two people just to make it easier. I bought this bed to replace the bed my son took with him to college, but he came home yesterday and saw it, so I'm afraid we'll be 'trading' beds because he liked this one so much! That's okay though! :) It is a metallic champagne color, but looks perfect in my son's black room with sponged metallic silver. I like the bed better being the color it is so it would go with more bedding colors in any other room (if that makes sense). It's a very sturdy, well-supported bed. You could use just a mattress without box springs if you want, although we used both. There are two settings for height of the supporting platform, so if you use a box springs, you might want the lower setting, unless you want to store stuff under the bed, then the bed will just be higher. This bed is well worth the money ~ it's awesome!