First of all, the yellow is lovely! I read some reviews elsewhere that said the surface scratches easily. I don't want to take the chance so I'll be buying a piece of plexiglass to fit over the top as this will be my everyday desk in my office. This is the first piece of furniture that I have assembled on my own, without any help. It took me almost five hours BUT I went very slow, read the direction 6 or 7 times to make sure I was doing it right and took my time. I was able to complete it alone, but I'm sure someone who has put things together before could do it much faster. There were a lot of parts to it, but the instructions were easy to follow and everything was labeled, so all went well. I look forward to using my new desk!