The mantel arrived in perfect condition, no shipping issues. The size was ideal for our large living room. The problem we ran into was once we stained it. The wood has strong yellow undertones, so we had to stain it to match with our decor. We had cut a piece out of the back to make it fit on the fireplace and I was able to use this to test stain colors. Ive stained a number of pieces of furniture prior. The stain came out just looking weird. I used a pre stain wood conditioner and it still came out splotchy. I ended up sanding as much stain off as I could and reapplied a different color and brand. The stain looks ok, but their is a large stripe of wood down the middle of the mantel that looks out of place. Overall not thrilled with how it looks. If you purchase this and dont stain it you will be happy, but if using a lighter or medium shade of stain, you might run into issues like me.