I love the couch. It's one of the stiff kinds and that's exactly the kind I like. It definitely seems sturdy and likely to last a while. The first delivery attempt failed, because they were not able to get it through the elevator. The second time went pretty smooth and I got the couch till my apartment. (The offer said inside delivery and I get it all the way to the living room.) The movers did inform me about the plank that a lot of people had trouble getting rid of. There were three screws in total, fixed to the couch (probably to protect the side while shipping.) I was able to get two of them out with a simple screw driver and the third one with with a hammer. I'm a 26 year old single girl and I was able to do all of this by myself with minimum amount of effort. So I don't know why some of the other reviews made so much of a fuss over this lump of wood. I haven't assembled the legs. The couch seems perfect even without them.