I put this dresser together by myself in about two to three hours total. Would go faster with a partner, of course. It is what you would expect for the price but it is totally fine for apartment living. Mine was not damaged when it arrived at all but it did suffer a couple of small scratches during the building process. The black marker did come in handy. Be careful to only pull out one drawer at a time--it can tip over if the weight is unevenly distributed. I love the charcoal color. I went to many furniture stores looking for a similar color scheme and ended up buying from Wayfair because I loved the look of this set so much.