I bought this piece to be used "double sided" meaning not against a wall. The bad part was that the back is unfinished particle board. I nailed the cubby backers on backwards so the "wood finish" is showing on the back rather than inside the cubbies and used some furniture touch-up markers to darken the unfinished wood. I thought it would be a disaster, but it actually works OK. It was easy to put together and is functional. As long as you don't mind the cheap particle board it's not so bad.