This bookcase looks very nice looks expensive (West Elm or Crate and Barrel style), the wood is thick and sturdy. I made one mistake assembling it, but didn't want to start over, so one shelf has the support showing backwards. It took me at a slow pace about an hour to assemble, if you can do ikea items, you can for sure assemble this! I put it in my kitchen to display books and decorative items, I would purchase this again. I couldn't insert the upper and lower portions with just my (female) strength, so covered the metal with a towel and used a hammer to join the two sections.