Please remember, you are not going to get hardwood at this price! This is a particle board bed. That being said I was able to assemble both of mine in 3 hours. Carefully removing pieces and using a blanket to rest parts I was assembling. Easy to put together but extremely heavy due to the material. These get the job done for my girls and provide enough storage for my 5 year olds clothes in one and my 12 year olds art supplies in the other. Bookshelf is also an great feature. However you should probably bracket the bookshelf piece to the bed otherwise it may tip over. BUT do that step last after the bed is in its spot. Bracketing the bookshelf and then moving the bed into position may cause the two pieces to detach and you are left with a torn out screw on one side. As long as you are careful with the pieces , you should be fine.