We've had this desk for about a year now and moved it 3,000 miles across the country. It has all of two small scratches (there is close up of the worst scratch and then far away view to show it's not noticeable on the table's pattern) and is as sturdy as when we got it. It was great to use as a place for fragile items during the move (of note is that our first truck broke down and we had to move everything to a new truck...it wasn't the easiest journey for us or the table and I think the table fared better than the humans). A lot can fit in under the lift top lid. We originally stored linens in there and you don't have to worry about the hinges getting caught on anything, but now with these other items in there we have to make sure the sides are cleared to lower the top properly. We found some crate that work well for the opening on the side. Putting the table together was straightforward and I only needed help from my partner for a couple of minutes.