As many have mentioned, this item is a sturdy piece of furniture.  It did come in a million pieces, but my husband laid them all out in order and it took probably 2-3 hours to put together.  The end result though, is that someone thought we had it delivered, it is that sturdy and looks like a piece you would buy from a furniture store.  We got the dark wood and the wood had pretty swirls of brownish color, making it look authentic and not all one color like manufactured wood or particle board.  My husband was pretty impressed and told me it was a good find!