The kitchen island is a sturdy and stable piece of furniture. It took about 3 hours to assemble by myself. There was one small split in one of the pieces where a predrilled hole had been put in, but it's not visible and I don't think it affects the piece after having been put together. I didn't think the directions for assembly were fantastic, and there are a lot of pieces, but everything was labeled well and it wasn't too confusing.Met my expectations for aesthetics, build quality, and at a very reasonable price.