My 8yo son's favorite color is gold, and he loves having this bench for his home classroom desk.It's very sturdy when you set it up properly. My 5yo did a running leap onto it right after I put it together, and it held up fine. I'm also comfortable sitting on it as a ~140lb woman, and I probably wouldn't hesitate to use it as a stool if I needed one.The faux leather has done a fine job so far protecting the interior from spills. Our only real challenge with it was the hazard it could pose a child trapped inside it, but we addressed that by putting a hole for a grommet in the side. Unfortunately, the wall of the bench was too thick to attach the other side of the grommet piece, but it looks nice on the outside and should no longer be a suffocation risk.I included several pictures from different angles to give an idea of how the gold looks, since that was one of my concerns on purchasing it. Hopefully this helps, and my apologies for the mess/chaos of the surrounding area.