This bed comes in two boxes. It was well packed and arrived quickly (shipped from close to home) with no damage. Assembly took quite a bit of time, lots of hardware and steps. I put together another queen bed after this one that had many fewer steps which was appreciated. However, it was not difficult and the end product is nice (though I could live without all the wood caps). This bed comes with roll slats which would be compatible with mattress only though we are using a boxspring.