Step One Platform Bed with Storage, Full 54-Inch, Pure Black

3 Years on, This platform is still going strong.Only bad thing, the corners on the platform will knock you for a painful loop if you bang your shins into them.This will happen only ONE TIME, as the pain does its magical work.June 2016This product has not done very well in reviews, but I find it to be a great product.I think its getting a bad rap, from some people who maybe didnt spend the time to get it right.If you don't know its particle board, or that you have to put it together, I suggest you go another route.Prepare for the Construction.Everything comes in the box that you need, but it makes sense to enhance it.There are some things you have to take on yourself. Buy some better screws, some contact paper,generally prepare for the construction. This thing is essentially a box, with flat boards over the top.The box part seems more complicated to construct than it should be.Biggest caution is to be careful with the BLUE TIP cam Bolts. Once you set them, you can only get them outby breaking the board. So TRIPLE Check the drawing before you drop one in.I read through almost every single review on this product, to get information about assembly.Comments that were not very helpful: - "The bed is heavy." (This is the number one review sentence?) - "I had to carry the heavy box, or remove parts from the box to get it in the house." - "The instructions are "hard". - "Cheap" - "I bought this for my son" - "The box was damaged, the parts were broken" - "The bed is made of particle board". - "The package arrived Late" - "The bed is made of particle board"So, I had to read through hundreds of comments, to find wisdom, I thought I wouldsummarize what I found for you:1. "Put the side rails on first so that when you put the end rail on, it lines up perfectly." I found this impossible to do. I had to put the rails on, by laying on my back.2. Use a drill to drive screws. and make any pilot holes as needed. (They are needed for the rails).3. Get some wood glue, use for every screw, dowel and wood joint4. Felt for the bottom is a good idea on a hard surface floor. You can get this at your hardware store for a few dollars.5. The mattress fails to cover the unpainted platform peices. Get some black contact paper.6. Make sure you have the box squared up right. Go to the store and buy a "Speed Square" for 5 bucks. (It looks like a triangle). Use it to truly square the box - it will help.7. I used some small nails to hold the rails in place, and square, while I drilled the holes from the bottom. (The nails were just tapped in behind the rails, to hold them in position until I drove the first screw)8. Go slow, measure 3 times, make sure the blue Cam bolts are in the right place before you set them.9. The Drawing is accurate. Carefully study every move. Take your time.10. The instructions are in the bigger of the 2 boxes, in between some boards. Good luck finding them.11. All the harware is there, I dont think there are any extra's, so be careful with it.Understand that in any construction project, you may need enhancements. Buying a good wood glue,maybe buying some better screws, some contact paper.. You may balk at having to do this, but justabout every "Assemble it yourself" Furniture benefits from enhanecments. Sure you can be mad about it,or, you can be happy about improved results. From the Reviews: - "screws were too short" - "Need wood glue on everything"Other Reviewers said:- "Make sure you put the 2 long, black outer edge pieces that hold the bed in place on first!!! The screws used to hold them in go up and under that flat piece the bed sits on and there's hardly any room for leverage to push the screws into the wood. In fact, I did end up flipping the bed and had a HECK of a time pushing the screws into the wood on those edge pieces."It says to put the platforms ( unfinished wood) on first then the railings on second(the pieces of finished wood that will secure the mattress. Bad idea .PUT THE SIDE RAILINGS ON FIRST ON THE PLATFORMS THAT WILL BE GOING ON THE EDGES OF THE BED.The railing that goes on the front of the bed, well you will just have to either screw it onmanually with a screw driver, which means laying on your back, or get someone to help you liftit high enough where you can put something underneath to support it so you can use a drill.> Need to adjust the box, so that its perfectly square before you try to mount wood to it. if you dont, the holes wont line up, and its not the fault of the design. Suggest using a "Spped Square" - which is a triangle shaped "ruler" that will help you square it perfectly.. Make sure the platforms all are even and use those pieces of wood as a measuring device before using the screws !+- " The molding along the sides of the platform could probably be drilled down before the slats are screwed into the base unit, thus allowing you to turn them over and screw downwards. But there's no easy way to do this with the molding along the foot of the bed, and the instructions don't tell you this until you've already got all the slats screwed down."- "Attaching the moulding (which is the last step). You will have very little room to get the appropriate leverage needed to get the screws to grip. I found that attaching the left and right moulding prior to fastening the platform boards really made it much easier."- " lay out all of the top boards on the base first before screwing them on one by one. "- " i also put 3 (3-LED Lights per tap fixture) on each side for a brilliant under glow about 1 1/2 from the ground."- "The holes in the particleboard ARE in the right spots, if you think they aren't, just double-check yourself. "- " One thing that threw me off was the black painted surfaces all face the foot and sides of the bed, NOT the head!"- I bought some Felt for the bottom of the wood, where it meets the floor.- "the top surface where your mattress rests is NOT FINISHED" ( I got some black contact paper for this)- "Our solution was to apply $10 of black contact paper we got from ACE Hardware (a 18" x 24' roll was just sufficient to cover the entire queen platform bed with just a little left over), which covered the nails and more importantly, the unsightly and rough and splinter-y particleboard. ">>Warranty 5 years:----------------------> production code on the outside of the box > Get it before you throw out the box, or the lack of the code will be used against you in any return situation.

I bought this for my 14 y/o daughter - perfect for her room. The deal on this bed cannot be beat elsewhere - price + shipping very, very low!!!! It is particle board, but for the price, what can you expect? The only complaint she has is the corners are at the right level for bumping her legs, but being aware of this, it can be avoided!!! The box it was shipped in was thin, and the corners were torn, but no major damage was done to the materials inside - no missing parts! It is heavy, but I opened it and transferred it piece by piece to the room for assembly. It does need to be assembled in the room in which it is intended, because it is very heavy and would be impossible to move afterwards. I put this together by myself - but I like a challenge and puzzles!! It would be easier with 2 people! We are very pleased with this platform bed!

I finally got it builtYep, it took me over 2 months to put it together. I've got some real mixed reviews with this platform.I ordered this a few months ago, and I received the item with the box torn open (with several boards hanging out), with damaged pieces. After contacting the seller (not the manufacturer), they wanted to just replace the pieces that were damaged, regardless to the fact the box arrived opened and obviously mishandled (I even saw the deliver guy set the item down and run back into his truck without ringing the doorbell, obviously he wanted only -me- to deal with the damage.)After awhile We managed to get the item returned to the seller, (they covered return shipping, and sent me out a new one, which arrived with no damage and much better packaged, yay!)I opened it up and saw massive damage to two of the boards, one had a big chunk taken out of it, and the other looked like someone took a hammer to it and put a huge concave into it. As this was clearly a manufacturing defect, I went online and filed a claim, with South Shore, and they promptly replaced......At..least it -was- until the deliver company(which was different from the original) noted shipping exception right as the replacement items were about 30 miles from my house (ouch.) So as per shipper instructions, it went back to South Shore....where they promptly rejected the item, and went back into transit and is.. apparently going around a conveyer belt somewhere in New Jersey. Contacted South Shore and they re sent the order, the replacements arrived in one piece each.Oh dear, now the fun began. Putting it together.. There were 3 pieces missing, one was a plastic plug to hide the screws (not a big deal), but 2 of the wooden spacers that were needed were both missing. And as those were needed right in the middle building the bed, I didn't realize. Well, As I had nowhere to sleep, I decided to say "Forget it" (Actually it was more like something I couldn't type on here, eh-hem!) And just eye'd it. Alright it was fineNow the most annoying thing... were the rails that go on the sides and front of the bed... They had no drill hole, and had to be drilled into place from UNDER the lip of the bed. And despite the instructions saying not to use a drill. There is no way you can do that without a drill, unless you plan on seeing a hand-surgeon after to re-attach your tendons and ligaments. Problem with using my drill was I had to prop up the bed using two of my old college books (and I'm in the medical field, so you know they're -big- books.) In the end, the rails didn't line up properly and had gaps or some were higher elevated.. ugh.. Awful, But, it is just aesthetic, so I guess I can't exactly complain that it's not safe to use...(This is why I had only a boxspring and mattress last time.....)

Wow, what can I say. This thing is like a brick. Once you build it, don't plan on moving it. I feel like I could have a party on this bed and invite 10 people. It took a couple hours to setup, and you definitely need someone to help you.

The only problem with assembly was the rails; I need an electric drill; as they are too dense to screw by hand. Otherwise, it wasgood, as advertised

love it its easy to get in and out bof bed

Be prepared it has a lot of pieces but very easy to assemble. We layer on it before we put the mattress on and it holds well.

The quality is great for the money, The only thing I had problems with were the instructions. It would be much better if they had marked the head and foot of the bed on the instructions. Otherwise everything went together well. It took my husband and me about 4 hours to put together with several breaks and a few slight disagreements. We are old!