This is exactly what my husband needed for his office and he is very happy with it.  The finish is nice, the color soft and elegant and it offers plenty of space for him to work on.  We paired it with three of the Pendergrast bookshelves in maple.  As for assembly, it was a lot of parts and pieces which took him about three hours to put together.  No shortcuts on building this piece, but definitely worth it in the end.