We had this hall tree for about 6 months and loved it, until the seat bracket pulled from the back mount causing the whole lid to come off.  There was no way to fix it without re-bolting the whole back of it (which during that process part of the wood split and needed to be braced).  At this point my husband has it usable again, but I'm not sure I'd trust sitting on it.  I'm sad because it's very cute and fits just right in our entry.  I'm wishing now that we spent our money on something a bit more sturdy and long term.