I love my new bench! It's made of real wood with pretty wood grain, not fake wood. And it's a nice, medium density hardwood. I love the very clever design of how the bench slides in and out to create various lengths. And the overall design with parallel horizontal boards is really nice. Since I'm placing new bench outdoors, when I first got it out of the box, I sanded it down a little bit and applied coats of 100% tung oil to protect it from the elements. The tung oil really brings out the beautiful pattern and rich color of the grain. I was also pleasantly surprised to find out that the bench was completely assembled right out of the box so all I had to do is pulled out :-) I would definitely recommend this bench.