The finish of the laminate is nice and smooth. It looks contemporary in a living room setting. It looks tiny even though it can work for TVs up to 65". The assembly is a two-person job with the right equipment. Having a powered drill can make it faster, although not an absolute necessity. The assembly instructions are in the form of pictures and the parts are labeled but the design is not intuitive and can lead to confusion. Overall a decent pick for $100 or less.