Our laundry area is right next to our second floor landing, and keeping it nice on laundry day is next to impossible.  We bought this stand and some cute baskets to make the area look more finished.  I'm happy with the final look!  You don't see the real wood grain on this piece.  Some people have noted the desert brown has a grey tone to it - if you are looking for a blonde wood, this isn't what you want, but otherwise, the color is beautiful.  When the matching console table with drawers comes back in stock, we are ordering it for another area in our house.