For a do/it/yourself assembly of a furniture kit, this one is a bit of a challenge. First, let me say that the whole kit is quite heavy so you may want to unpack all the pieces from the shipping box and take them somewhere for assembly. That said, it is intelligently and carefully packed and protected inside. Nothing was scuffed or damaged, thanks to all the styrofoam and cardboard and foam wrap. The instructions are fairly clear but if you have never assembled something using this type of connector, you will find it a little confusing until you get the hang of it. All pieces are well labelled and all holes are predrilled and ready for connectors. Be aware that some of the predrilled holes for the pin connectors are about 1/32 under sized and require enlarging with the proper size drill bit.
Do not think this is a solid wood product. Many pieces are some sort of composite covered with a very convincing wrap that looks like wood grain. There were several voids or knotholes in my particular set that were filled and sanded perfectly smooth with some kind of filler that left a seamless and smooth/feeling finish. You might not even have noticed them since they were closely color/matched, except for the fact that the wood grain was missing and therefore a bit conspicuous if you notice that sort of thing.
With basic tool skills and a few extra tools to supplement the small wrench and screwdriver included with the hardware kit, you can put this together by yourself. All the pieces of hardware are separately packed in little bags labelled with a number that corresponds to the numbered step in the directions. There is even an additional little bag with extras of everything, which is a good thing because they shorted me one of the connectors for the shelves. All in all, I was amed at the close tolerances and how everything came together straight and without any tweaking necessary. (I hate things crooked / just ask my wife who calls me a perfectionist, and probably other things when Im not listening.)
One more note: as with a lot of things that come on a slow boat from China, the cabinet smells but the odor seems to be dissipating.
Plan on 1 / 1 1/2 hrs to assemble. If you had to turn around and do a second one, it would take you half that time. Recommended for anyone with basic handyman skills. Very pretty.
Nice cabinet / but you got to work for it!
For a do/it/yourself assembly of a furniture kit, this one is a bit of a challenge. First, let me say that the whole kit is quite heavy so you may want to unpack all the pieces from the shipping box and take them somewhere for assembly. That said, it is intelligently and carefully packed and protected inside. Nothing was scuffed or damaged, thanks to all the styrofoam and cardboard and foam wrap. The instructions are fairly clear but if you have never assembled something using this type of connector, you will find it a little confusing until you get the hang of it. All pieces are well labelled and all holes are predrilled and ready for connectors. Be aware that some of the predrilled holes for the pin connectors are about 1/32 under sized and require enlarging with the proper size drill bit. Do not think this is a solid wood product. Many pieces are some sort of composite covered with a very convincing wrap that looks like wood grain. There were several voids or knotholes in my particular set that were filled and sanded perfectly smooth with some kind of filler that left a seamless and smooth/feeling finish. You might not even have noticed them since they were closely color/matched, except for the fact that the wood grain was missing and therefore a bit conspicuous if you notice that sort of thing. With basic tool skills and a few extra tools to supplement the small wrench and screwdriver included with the hardware kit, you can put this together by yourself. All the pieces of hardware are separately packed in little bags labelled with a number that corresponds to the numbered step in the directions. There is even an additional little bag with extras of everything, which is a good thing because they shorted me one of the connectors for the shelves. All in all, I was amed at the close tolerances and how everything came together straight and without any tweaking necessary. (I hate things crooked / just ask my wife who calls me a perfectionist, and probably other things when Im not listening.) One more note: as with a lot of things that come on a slow boat from China, the cabinet smells but the odor seems to be dissipating. Plan on 1 / 1 1/2 hrs to assemble. If you had to turn around and do a second one, it would take you half that time. Recommended for anyone with basic handyman skills. Very pretty.