I was prepared to refute the other reviews that claimed this was difficult to assemble--but it is, and I'm pretty handy! It took me more than 2 hours and by the end I was dripping with sweat. In most places where two large pieces are attached, the piece of wood behind or underneath is not predrilled. Not everything nests together flatly. I had to push with my full body weight and use a cordless drill to get certain screws in only to get them partially in or "close enough." In the end, the desk looks pretty nice but assembly is a problem. There really are some screws that are impossible to get in, given the design of the desk components and the order of assembly. The good news is, it's pretty sturdy without those.