Im happy to report that my pieces arrived in very good conditionthere were minor cosmetic flaws, but no cracks or dents that would make me question the integrity of the desk. I was a little concerned about the state of the drawer rails, as theyre slightly bent (see attached picture), but upon closer inspection I realized thats how theyre meant to be and I can confirm that they work perfectly well.
The assembly process went smoothly; it took an hour, maybe an hour and a half from start to finish. Youll definitely need a hammer, and I would recommend using a screwdriver other than the that comes with the desk; it felt flimsy and seemed much worse at actually screwing things in. I completed the assembly without power tools without much difficulty, but I could see where a drill would make things easier. I did it on my own, and n of the parts were too heavy to maneuver; the most difficult part was attaching the desktop and hutch to the bottom which might take a second pair of hands.
The instructions were clear, for the most part; the pictures did a good job showing where everything went. However, there were some parts of the manual which were incorrect, such as the counts for how much of each part or which connector youre to use. To my knowledge, though, the pictures were accurate, and I deferred to them when I ran into an issue with the instructions (and I wound up with a solid desk from it).
As for the parts: everything is clearly labeled, mostly. Some of the stickers indicating the part number came partially scratched off, but it wasnt too hard to figure out what was whatagain, the pictures were a great guide. (Later on, as it turned out, the stickers became a bit of a paintheyre hard to get off completely without any residue.) The various screws and connectors came helpfully separated, although its worthwhile to double check the counts when you get the deskI didnt have any issues with having too /few/ screws, but I /did/ have too many by the end of the build. I assume if they can miscount in direction they can miscount in the other. There is a separate bag containing spare parts, but it doesnt hurt to be careful!
Once everything was all set up, I was very pleased with how the desk came out. The drawer and keyboard tray work smoothly, and theres a good amount of desk on top. The shelf they provided for the side cabinet is a little unstable, though, so I would be careful about putting too much weight or something fragile on it. All told, its a great, compact workperfect for a small apartment or dorm.
A surprisingly solid work
Im happy to report that my pieces arrived in very good conditionthere were minor cosmetic flaws, but no cracks or dents that would make me question the integrity of the desk. I was a little concerned about the state of the drawer rails, as theyre slightly bent (see attached picture), but upon closer inspection I realized thats how theyre meant to be and I can confirm that they work perfectly well. The assembly process went smoothly; it took an hour, maybe an hour and a half from start to finish. Youll definitely need a hammer, and I would recommend using a screwdriver other than the that comes with the desk; it felt flimsy and seemed much worse at actually screwing things in. I completed the assembly without power tools without much difficulty, but I could see where a drill would make things easier. I did it on my own, and n of the parts were too heavy to maneuver; the most difficult part was attaching the desktop and hutch to the bottom which might take a second pair of hands. The instructions were clear, for the most part; the pictures did a good job showing where everything went. However, there were some parts of the manual which were incorrect, such as the counts for how much of each part or which connector youre to use. To my knowledge, though, the pictures were accurate, and I deferred to them when I ran into an issue with the instructions (and I wound up with a solid desk from it). As for the parts: everything is clearly labeled, mostly. Some of the stickers indicating the part number came partially scratched off, but it wasnt too hard to figure out what was whatagain, the pictures were a great guide. (Later on, as it turned out, the stickers became a bit of a paintheyre hard to get off completely without any residue.) The various screws and connectors came helpfully separated, although its worthwhile to double check the counts when you get the deskI didnt have any issues with having too /few/ screws, but I /did/ have too many by the end of the build. I assume if they can miscount in direction they can miscount in the other. There is a separate bag containing spare parts, but it doesnt hurt to be careful! Once everything was all set up, I was very pleased with how the desk came out. The drawer and keyboard tray work smoothly, and theres a good amount of desk on top. The shelf they provided for the side cabinet is a little unstable, though, so I would be careful about putting too much weight or something fragile on it. All told, its a great, compact workperfect for a small apartment or dorm.