I bought this desk to move my husband's computer out of the spare room into a nook in our living area, so it was important that it look good. It's darker than it appears in the image. It's very sturdy and looks great though. I did read reviews ahead of purchasing that explained assembly was a bit of a process, so we were prepared for that. My husband is happy with it being big and sturdy enough for his custom computer setup and I'm happy with how it looks in our home.