The bench is everything I asked for in terms of a storage bench. It's not as long as other storage benches and that was key for me when finding the perfect bench to fit in my space. The bench has a slight smell - it's hard to describe - I think it comes primarily from the baskets. I had though the smell would go away over time, and it might, but it's been several months and the smell is still present. The other reason I only gave it 4 stars is because the baskets had to be assembled and assembly was very difficult (the ends didn't line up exactly and the parts were poorly made).