This is a very attractive lamp and looks great with contemporary style furniture in my family room.  A friend assembled the lamp for me and said it was not difficult.  It did not take very long to assemble -- maybe a half hour.  The lamp came packaged with a humongous 3-way CFL light bulb which did not fit into this lamp.  I double-checked the "specs" on line, which said this lamp takes a 3-way incandescent bulb.  Then I remembered that one of the reasons I ordered this lamp was because I prefer to use a 3-way incandescent bulb for reading.  Happily, I had a 3-way incandescent bulb handy and the lamp seems to work well with it.  As other reviewers have noted, the lamp is a bit shorter than other standard-sized (60"- 62") floor lamps, but it looks fine next to the particular "club" style chair where I have placed it.  It might look too small next to larger scale furniture.