I love this piece.  It is much darker than pictured (just as others reviewers stated), but that's exactly what I wanted.  There are lots of pieces but the everything is so clearly labeled that it really isn't an issue.  I took everything out of the box so I could see all of the labels which made it easy.  I was able to do it alone in about an hour.  Definitely put a blanket down to avoid scratching.  I didn't have a problem.