Arden Futon Set - Full Size, Frame, 8" Mattress, Twill Burgundy Cover

PROS: Well-made frame, beautiful wood, comfortable mattress that's made in the USA, and quick delivery (mattress and frame arrived separately within 5 days). I was relieved that the wood and the mattress color (hunter green) are darker than shown in the seller's picture, which is not an accurate reflection of the product.CONS: The first thing I noticed when unwrapping the mattress was the dirt on it. The second thing I noticed was the ridiculous white thread used for the tufting instead of matching the cover thread. And, rather than an actual mattress with a removable cover like really good futons have, the mattress is a stuffed cover, so the cover cannot be removed and washed. Because of this and the white thread, apparently the seller expects customers to buy another cover to put over it. So why even offer different colors of mattresses? Just for people who don't ever expect to clean it? Lastly, although the seller's picture shows 4 wood screw covers on one side, which means there should be 4 on the other side for a total of 8, only 4 wood screw covers are included and indeed only 4 are listed in the assembly instructions as being included. Why in the world wouldn't they supply the correct number of screw covers? I've requested 4 more so I can cover all 8 exposed screws.

This review will be a bit more detailed than I normally write. Let's break it down into categories.Frame quality: Excellent hardwood, smooth and well-finished.Hardware: Excellent quality and appropriate to the application.Ease of assembly and quality of instructions: Assembly will probably take you about two hours. There are lots of parts. An allen wrench is included to help assembly and you may not need anything else but may need a screwdriver to exactly position the barrel bolts. While a purchaser could be intimidated by assembly, the instructions are well written with pretty good illustrations. A couple of points are that 1) this is not the type of product to dump everything out and assume you can just put it together and 2) if you carefully read the instructions, go step by step, and refer to the drawings frequently then assembly goes along pretty smoothly. One note is that the instructions are generic for several models and some pieces may not look exactly as portrayed. For instance, the illustration may show an exaggerated roundness on the end of a piece as compared to the actual piece. I emphasize to look closely at the drawings and follow the instructions exactly and you will be just fine.Mattress quality: The mattress is heavy duty and comes vacuum packed to reduce size. You may want to open this first to allow the mattress to start decompressing, a process that can take up to two days per the included note. The mattress description indicates high density foam; if so the foam may be cellulose based as the mattress has kind of sawdust smell. Our mattress is brand new and we are not yet sure if the smell will fade. Also not yet sure as to whether the mattress will be lumpy and in need of some kind of cover pad. The mattress is probably not washable.Sturdiness: ExcellentPosition in a room: When folding down into the bed position, the rear of the futon will extend further than in the upright position so, if the normal location is against a wall, the unit will have to be pulled out to convert to a bed. You may want to put sliders under the legs to make moving the unit easier.Overall: an excellent piece of furniture with a bit of concern about the mattress. If we could give half stars, this would be a four and one-half.

Get somebody to help you assemble this, and you or the assistant need to be good at painstakingly putting a zillion screws and fasteners together. Be patient, it will take about 4 hours with help. You will not be able to do it alone. The last stage of setting the mattress frame into the lower wooden sofa support is tricky. Keep the bolts holding the two end pieces with the frame guides screwed really loose to the boards that extend across to each. Two of you will have to simultaneously set the mattress support framework down into the lower section. You have to be able to guide the caps into the grooves on each end. That is how the mattress is guided down into a bed or the back set at two sofa positions. Once you manage to get those in the grooves on both ends, you and the assistant need to hold them against the mattress frame so they don't slip out, while simultaneously tightening the two end pieces fully to the cross bars. The whole thing is a jigsaw puzzle with a Chinese finger pull at many steps. It can be done, the key is patience and really following the instructions diligently.The result is a fantastic futon. I have the queen size with a 8" thick memory foam mattress and it is top notch stuff.

All in all, I'm very please with this futon. I mainly bought it as sofa so I can't comment on its use as a bed. It Is very sturdy and attractive and very nicely replaces and older futon that I have.It is quite heavy and I think it is best to have two people working on the project. Even the mattress is heavy and I had difficulty placing it on the frame by myself.Typically the instructions are not very good. The Diagrams are adequate but lack text to explain fine points in assembly. I've put together quite a few this type of product and so it was a little easier to anticipate some of the problems. It took two of us about two hours to assembleThere was quite a delay between the time of delivery of the frame and the mattress. It took me quite a while to realize that replies from the manufacturer can only be read on the Amazon website. I had expected a reply via email or return phone call and got a bit frustrated when I never heard a thing.As mentioned by others, I did not receive adequate wooden buttons to cover the screw holes. The manufacturer promised replacements, but I have yet to receive them.I ordered the queen size, but in retrospect, I think the standard size would have work just as well for my purposes since I have no intention of using it as a bed.. The larger size just made the back a little higher. I do think the thicker mattress is well worth the extra cost