I have to confess, I didn't put this together, but my husband said he felt it had several unnecessary steps and it was due to it being packed in so many pieces to save on shipping cost. Other than that, it turned out fine and looks nice for the price. It's not that hard to assemble, just takes time. But, not several hours. I would purchase again. This desk is on several other sites for almost double the cost. It's just under a different "product name".