I bought 2 of these to use. One for my mom and the other for myself.  For my mom, she uses it as a TV stand, and for me. , I use mine as a small coffee table. It is a little higher, but not by much than standard coffee table heights. Zipcode Design packaged the item with an extra very hard cardboard on the outside of the box on each and every corner and then they wrapped the entire thing in heavy plastic! No tools were included, you need a Phillips head screwdriver and a hammer, that's it. Assembly took about a half an hour for one unit.  The screws were not hard to screw except for your wrist may burn a little from lactic acid buildup! I found that I needed a few seconds rest in between screwing the screws! Also, as recommended, assemble the unit either on carpet or on the empty box to prevent scratches.  The units are nice and very sturdy!