Back in college, I purchased a utilitarian black metal bed frame and memory foam mattress from Wayfair. It was a solid bed: It served its purpose and followed me from apartment to apartment for (probably too many) years. Unfortunately, the black metal didn’t mesh with the midcentury modern vibe I was aiming for with the rest of my current apartment. So, I needed a change.

Luckily, I came across Silk & Snow. Their Platform bed uses Japanese wooden joinery similar to the popular Thuma frame—but for literally half the price. They also offer a series of mattresses to compliment the frame. Here’s my Silk & Snow bed frame review, along with my take on the mattress, the assembly process, and whether it’s the right choice for anyone looking to upgrade their sleep situation.

Heavy-duty design, heavier-duty boxes

I opted for the Platform bed with a wooden upholstered headboard and the S&S Memory Foam Mattress, both in size full. It arrived in a total of five boxes. Three large boxes held the bulk of the bed, another large box held the mattress, and a fifth smaller box held the headboard cover. A huge benefit of wooden-joinery-style beds is their ease of assembly—and we’ll discuss that in a bit—but one thing to note about the S&S bed’s solid wooden construction is its weight. This thing is heavy, which is great, since premium acacia wood will likely last for many years to come. The only problem is you need to get the boxes into your bedroom, and when you live in a third-floor walkup like myself, that can present an issue. (However, in the age of pressed plywood furniture, a heavy-duty design is worth the struggle, IMO.) All that’s to say, you’ll likely need an extra set of hands to get this thing up stairs. The headboard box in particular is rather unwieldy and would be hard to carry solo, no matter how much you bench. Once inside, everything you need for the bed is in the boxes and with very clear instructions. These beds famously don’t require screws or any tools for assembly, either—just a touch of elbow grease.

Setup could not be easier

The actual build process of the S&S bed frame was really easy. The hardest part is definitely getting the boxes inside—and opening up the meticulously sealed packaging. But once the pieces are laid out, it all starts to click. There are a couple of legs for the central support beam that have to be twisted on, but every other piece just fits together like an incredibly solvable wooden jigsaw puzzle.