The finished looked is just as shown in the photo. It did take some time to fully assemble (3 hours for 1 person). The instructions were very detailed and had photos so they were very easy to follow...there were just a lot of pieces which took some time. The bookcase is made of particle board and laminate, so you do have to be careful when handling and during assembly. I placed the unit on carpet and it was a little unstable, so I had to put some shims under the two front legs to keep it from wobbling.