I was really impressed with how solid this was, and how thick each piece was! Assembly was relatively easy - although gluing dowels into place was a little intimidating. Only cons were that some of the holes didn’t line up, either by a little or at all. The wood is soft enough we were able to power through with little to no assistance from our drill. Second thing is the large amount of machine grooves in the top panel. There are 3 columns, running the full length, and they are less present on the underside. They aren’t too obnoxious at less than an inch in width, and we’re planning to add a long seat pillow, so not deal breakers for us. But I was definitely shocked when I first saw them. Overall it’s a perfect window seat + book shelf for us!