I spent nearly two months researching Great Offer Stock for our very first king-sized bed frame/headboard purchase, and looked at many other brands like Tribecca Home. I read EVERY review on EVERY bed I looked at, and ran the calculations on cost-savings for nearly 45 days! My hubby and I finally struck while the iron was hot in October 2013, and our gorgeous Bianca bed arrived right one time (actually earlier) about two full weeks after its purchase date. The two delivery guys brought it upstairs, and it is a very long and heavy set of two boxes, which stayed in my hallway until my hubby came home from a business trip. (Note: A petite woman WILL NOT be able to move or assemble this on their own, and I am VERY athletic!) Nothing was damaged (the bed is made in Malaysia) and my hubby assembled it on his own, while I was away at a corporate training. He said it took a while and was a bit of a pain getting the slats in, and took him about 3 hours to fully complete! Bless him, because I feel like a new woman and we are sleeping soundly without the dreaded 3:00 AM insomnia spell I normally would wake-up to nightly, on our old bed frame and old queen mattress. We bought a low-profile box spring and king-sized Serta mattress, also from Great Offer Stock, and it looks fabulous on this bed together! So yes, we used a box spring in addition to the slats provided, and it is VERY sturdy and will last a lifetime. The headboard is quite cushy and smooth, and looks like real leather, and has great detail. We currently have 6 pillows on the bed, and can still see the headboard, but it could afford to be maybe 3-inches higher, but no complaints here as I already knew what we were getting! BUY IT FOR YOURSELF NOW, it is so WORTH IT!