Good: Once everything was finally assembled, it did get a bit more sturdy. It is exactly the size and height I need. I think it will hold up well structurally, if not cosmetically. Bad: I have a doctorate degree and it took me about 5 hours to assemble this. THE HOLES ARE NOT PRE-DRILLED! They are scored, somewhat, but you have to actually do the screwing into the wood. I should have used power tool--some I did not press down hard enough while screwing and just tore up the "wood" (I have delicate hands, haha). Some did not have indicators where to put nails or screws at all. You need your own tools, quite a few of them. The support pegs that hold the pieces together are ill-fitting and need a good hard tap--but don't tap too hard or you'll go right through the materials. Hard to get everything aligned so the doors swing easily. All surfaces very cheap and scratchable material, made worse by very poor protection during shipping. This was actually my second order as the first was destroyed; I got a replacement with "just" the bottom of the drawer broken and the top counter piece broken on one side. Packaging is simply inadequate for this weight of furniture, and the pieces seem to be put in there in the order you assemble them (versus the order which would protect them best!). Most of the teeny-tiny stickers identifying the pieces had come off, so I got to play "guess and check" with the instructions. Also, the instructions seem to want you to break the pieces, having you insert all the small hardware into holes first, then try to navigate and assemble them. Tips: Here were some things I found helpful: *send it back! Seriously, look through your box for damages before you get started. *wrap a few rubber bands around the drawer pulls and then clamp down with a set of pliers to hold steady while driving a screw into them. *If you are missing the holes for the cabinet doors, the middle piece is probably upside down. It fits on one side even if it is upside down. *If your doors don't seem to hang right, torque the whole unit into place when you put on the back panel. A partner helps to push the top in one direction, bottom to another, while you are banging in the nails for the back panel. Believe it or not, it should line up well with the top, bottom, and both sides and makes it about 5 times more stable. *double check the finished facing, most of the parts fit very well backwards/upside down. *pound the "bad parts" (big, unfinished, distorted) of the pegs in first, that way you can use the "nice" side to slide in during assembly. *whenever possible, have a partner to provide gentle, loving counter-pressure while screwing the screws in--if you push too hard on the pieces themselves they usually chip. *have some wood glue handy to fix the many, many chips.
