I received and assembled the headboard and bench tonight (actually, assisting my husband). The color was perfect - exactly what I expected from the picture: a dusty gray, on the bluish side. It is the calming color I wanted for a relaxing bedroom, and my husband likes it, too. The material is as described - it looks like a heavy woven cotton. The headboard and the bench seat were upholstered very nicely, and the nail heads on the headboard were placed evenly around the outside edge. I was pleased with the quality appearance and appreciated careful craftsmanship.
The bench assembly was a snap. The assembly directions, wooden legs, tools, and hardware are located inside and under the seat's liner, which is secured by velcro. The nicely painted, black legs slip into place and easily attach with the hardware. (You will have some hardware left over with both the bench and the headboard.) The legs of the bench and headboard already have glides affixed to protect floors.
The headboard directions, tools, hardware, and "legs" are nestled on the back of the headboard inside one of the slots used in assembling the legs. There are multiple holes on the back of the headboard to vary the height or match up with different bed frames. On the legs there are two, long, vertical slots for the mounting hardware, which also aid with adjustability. Long mounting screws were included with the hardware. We did not have to drill any holes to make it fit our bed frame, but the attachment piece for our bed frame also has horizontal slots that give flexibility for where to mount the headboard to the bed. It did not take long to put it together and mount it. We laid the unassembled headboard upside down with the bottom facing the head of the bed in order to determine what slot on the leg to use when bolting it to the bed and to see the height of the holes in relation to our mattress; then we attached the legs to the headboard (not tight enough to engage the locking washer) and stood it up to at the head of the bed to make sure it was the height we wanted before mounting it to our bed frame. After tightening it all up, it was a very easy to complete the final assembly on the first try.( Yeah!) We mounted it below the top four holes on the back of the headboard, which placed the bottom of the headboard at the top of our Tempurpedic mattress and boxspring. It stands pretty high on our wall and balances out our king size bed. It is surprisingly tall and pretty impressive!
Why I gave it only four stars when I am "very pleased:"
If you are looking for a piece that uses internal hardwood framing and pays as much attention to detail in the parts that are not seen as those that are not seen, you may be disappointed. All the visible parts look well-appointed; but the inside framing and the lining are not top-quality. The liners are thin, papery material, like some reusable bags are made out of, and the framing is a combination of pressed wood and plywood. I was surprised the "legs" of the headboard were material wrapped wood: I expected the wood to be like the bench legs. To my point though, they are not seen if the headboard is mounted on the inside, rather than the outside the width of the bed, therefore it only sightly bothered me. If I had needed to mount it with the legs showing on either side of the mattress, I would not have been happy with that look. For me, five stars is top quality inside and out, and I thought others may feel the same and want to know the details. There are many headboards more expensive than this on the Internet that may be in the five star category, but I did not want to spend a huge amount of money for a trendy look, and I am very satisfied with this one for the price. I am more than happy with the expensive look it presents, and no one else will ever know what I know about the construction unless they read this review. :-)