After an exhaustive search, I came across this stool as the perfect nightstand for my college-aged son's bedroom. He has a low platform bed, and traditional nightstands are too high, not to mention boring-looking. My son, who doesn't usually care one whit about aesthetics, LOVES this piece and wants to take it with him when he graduates. It also helps that it is a "fair trade" type item that comes with some gratifying literature about helping global artisans. That's appealing to a college kid, as you might expect. The stool arrived in perfect condition, having been carefully packed in a double box. The colors are true to the picture, although mine has a slight mauve-ish tint mixed into the whorls that actually goes perfectly with a scene painting that I have over the bed.