Smelled very strongly of varnish. Had to have the window open and a fan blowing the whole time we put it together. It only took my husband and I 40 minutes to assemble. There were a couple of scratches in the paint. I used a magic eraser on a few but it didn't remove all the spots. Over all I am very please with this crib. We get lots of compliments on how cute it is in our nursery. Can't wait for our little baby to get here to try it out.