The sideboard had a smell to it. It did say in the box that the smell isn't toxic. It's mostly aired out, but the smell is still inside the cabinets when you open them. It was not as easy to put together as other store furniture. But it wasn't horrible either. The instructions were just not very detailed. There were a couple of times I had to back track and redo a part, because it was wrong. But I'm very happy with the sideboard. On a happy scale I give it 5 stars! It looks good and it is serving its purpose. It was reasonable priced. I'm hoping that it will hold out over time.