Classy and Stylish, Assembly Instructions Could be Better, Stability Issue
Im really happy w/ the end result, but getting there was an issue. I give the finished product a five for looks, as it looks much more expensive than it cost, and it is a chic and stylish piece. Id give it a two for assembly and stability.
I love this cabinet for its looks. I needed something for a specific space, that had see through doors and was stylish, this fits the bill. After much searching, didnt find anything else similar that didnt cost over $1,000, which wasnt in my budget.
Ive had many products over the years and find them to be generally better quality than many assemble yourself furniture units. And despite my succeeding comments, their instructions were better than most other companies I have encountered.
Problem 1
A dowel rod was missing (received 7 instead of the need 8). This in and of itself doesnt seem to be significant enough to cause the stability issue I will describe later.
Problem 2
The holes for the upper hinges were not drilled in the correct spot (both sides of the cabinet). There is an indent in the cabinet piece where the hinges sit, eg its pretty obvious the hinges are supposed to sit in the slightly recessed part of the cabinet face. The bottom holes lined up perfectly. The upper holes were off to the extent that only about 1/8 - 1/4 of the diameter of the hole lined up w/ the holes in the hinge. We had to get out a drill. Glad my Dad taught me how to use a drill!
Problem 3
There were a couple spots in the instructions where it really wasnt clear which way a piece was supposed to face during the assembly process. My math inclined teen who helped me assemble the cabinet (I dont think this cabinet could easily be assembled w/ one person, but thats just me) took a guess, and she was (thankfully) right. The diagrams could have been better, and more plentiful.
Problem 4
After the cabinet is nearly fully assembled, except for attaching the tagboard back, depending on the surface the cabinet is sitting on, the doors can look lopsided. In fact, ours looked completely lopsided. 1/2 difference between the right and left doors, where the two door knobs are supposed to be at the same height. Gaps between the left door at the top between the door and the cabinet housing, gaps at the bottom of the right hand door between the door and the cabinet housing. At this stage of the assembly, Im snapping photos, about to contact to give me my money back (because the unit looks unacceptably lop sided with respect to the doors). Leaving the backing off, thinking we were going to ask for a replacement, we moved the cabinet to a wall to get it out of the way for the time being. I look at it again, and, the doors are lined up much to my surprise. We finally figure out that without the back fastened on (or so we thought), the unit has the ability to pitch from side to side, causing the doors to misalign. In my opinion - should have made very clear in the instructions that this is an issue - because honestly I was ready to throw in the towel and ask for my money back after initially seeing the badly misaligned doors and not realizing what was causing it.
Problem 5
We proceed to attach the back, thinking weve solve the misaligned door problem. My daughter holds the unit in perfectly squared up position, while I attach the back, making certain the unit is perfectly square the entire time Im attaching the back (multiple fasteners). I notice as Im attaching the back, it does not fit correctly into the slightly recessed area in the back of the unit, where the tagboard backing is supposed to fit. Because the back has a slightly smaller footprint that the actual width and length of the unit, it doesnt look poorly that the back doesnt completely fit correctly into the recessed area. However, the fit issue leads me to believe there is still some overall problem w/ the assembly. Now the cabinet is completed, and we move it again to a different part of the room, and interestingly, the doors are now misaligned, again, despite the back being attached. I again grasp the top of the unit, and I can still sway it from side to side, thus my complaint about stability. Its not a big swing, but it shouldnt have any swing. Ive determined that if I put a felt chair bottom pad underneath the right back leg, I will be able to re-align the doors, so that they at least sit properly. However , time will tell if the sway causes a problem. If it does, I will probably install metal L joints inside the back of the cabinet at the corners, where they would be unobtrusive. Honestly - should have included those and drilled the holes for L joints, to eliminate the sway problem.
*******
So in the end, Im very happy w/ the way the cabinet looks, and I hope it will be functional without having to drill more holes and install L joints. But - overall, I expected better from .
Classy and Stylish, Assembly Instructions Could be Better, Stability Issue
Im really happy w/ the end result, but getting there was an issue. I give the finished product a five for looks, as it looks much more expensive than it cost, and it is a chic and stylish piece. Id give it a two for assembly and stability. I love this cabinet for its looks. I needed something for a specific space, that had see through doors and was stylish, this fits the bill. After much searching, didnt find anything else similar that didnt cost over $1,000, which wasnt in my budget. Ive had many products over the years and find them to be generally better quality than many assemble yourself furniture units. And despite my succeeding comments, their instructions were better than most other companies I have encountered. Problem 1 A dowel rod was missing (received 7 instead of the need 8). This in and of itself doesnt seem to be significant enough to cause the stability issue I will describe later. Problem 2 The holes for the upper hinges were not drilled in the correct spot (both sides of the cabinet). There is an indent in the cabinet piece where the hinges sit, eg its pretty obvious the hinges are supposed to sit in the slightly recessed part of the cabinet face. The bottom holes lined up perfectly. The upper holes were off to the extent that only about 1/8 - 1/4 of the diameter of the hole lined up w/ the holes in the hinge. We had to get out a drill. Glad my Dad taught me how to use a drill! Problem 3 There were a couple spots in the instructions where it really wasnt clear which way a piece was supposed to face during the assembly process. My math inclined teen who helped me assemble the cabinet (I dont think this cabinet could easily be assembled w/ one person, but thats just me) took a guess, and she was (thankfully) right. The diagrams could have been better, and more plentiful. Problem 4 After the cabinet is nearly fully assembled, except for attaching the tagboard back, depending on the surface the cabinet is sitting on, the doors can look lopsided. In fact, ours looked completely lopsided. 1/2 difference between the right and left doors, where the two door knobs are supposed to be at the same height. Gaps between the left door at the top between the door and the cabinet housing, gaps at the bottom of the right hand door between the door and the cabinet housing. At this stage of the assembly, Im snapping photos, about to contact to give me my money back (because the unit looks unacceptably lop sided with respect to the doors). Leaving the backing off, thinking we were going to ask for a replacement, we moved the cabinet to a wall to get it out of the way for the time being. I look at it again, and, the doors are lined up much to my surprise. We finally figure out that without the back fastened on (or so we thought), the unit has the ability to pitch from side to side, causing the doors to misalign. In my opinion - should have made very clear in the instructions that this is an issue - because honestly I was ready to throw in the towel and ask for my money back after initially seeing the badly misaligned doors and not realizing what was causing it. Problem 5 We proceed to attach the back, thinking weve solve the misaligned door problem. My daughter holds the unit in perfectly squared up position, while I attach the back, making certain the unit is perfectly square the entire time Im attaching the back (multiple fasteners). I notice as Im attaching the back, it does not fit correctly into the slightly recessed area in the back of the unit, where the tagboard backing is supposed to fit. Because the back has a slightly smaller footprint that the actual width and length of the unit, it doesnt look poorly that the back doesnt completely fit correctly into the recessed area. However, the fit issue leads me to believe there is still some overall problem w/ the assembly. Now the cabinet is completed, and we move it again to a different part of the room, and interestingly, the doors are now misaligned, again, despite the back being attached. I again grasp the top of the unit, and I can still sway it from side to side, thus my complaint about stability. Its not a big swing, but it shouldnt have any swing. Ive determined that if I put a felt chair bottom pad underneath the right back leg, I will be able to re-align the doors, so that they at least sit properly. However , time will tell if the sway causes a problem. If it does, I will probably install metal L joints inside the back of the cabinet at the corners, where they would be unobtrusive. Honestly - should have included those and drilled the holes for L joints, to eliminate the sway problem. ******* So in the end, Im very happy w/ the way the cabinet looks, and I hope it will be functional without having to drill more holes and install L joints. But - overall, I expected better from .