Mini Empire Kitchen Island

This is definitely not "easy" to assemble, but it has a lot of parts and you can choose which side you want the pull out cutting board which means you have to be able to understand perspective. The key to assembly is identifying and organizing all parts, and then just following instructions. It took me 3 hours while watching a football game.

I searched long and hard to find the perfect island and ended up with this one because it looked like it had the most actual wood. Except for the sides, which seem far too thin for the quality of the rest of the island, I'm very pleased. You wouldn't notice the flimsy sides unless something bashed into them really hard. My husband pointed out that they may do this for weight reasons. I don't know. It doesn't detract from the look.

It packs a lot of storage space into a small footprint, which I like. I store my mixing bowls in the top and pot lids in the bottom.

The prior reviewer must have had bad luck and received an off piece or something, because everything fit perfectly and the doors close fine. The top was a tiny bit rough in places, but a little sandpaper and mineral oil fixed that.

Assembly did take a while, but my husband did most of it himself. I helped hold pieces for him at a couple points when he was joining everything together near the end, so those parts were definitely easier with two people. We didn't measure each screw and it still went fine. I sorted them into prep bowls beforehand.

The pull out counter bit is almost the perfect height for a five year old to use as a counter. My son loves to measure out ingredients for bread, muffins and cookies while I'm making something else on the taller countertop. So it's a fun parent/child cooking space.

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I consider my husband a pretty good handyman working with everything from plumbing to electrical to building furniture from scratch before but this was a BEAR to assemble. The biggest problem is that the parts are not labeled. You have to individually measure each one (down to the 1/8 in.) to be able to tell which is which. After over 4 hours! of assembly time (with me helping hold things) the unit looks fairly nice but the doors do not close properly. They stick at the top and will require some heavy sanding to fix. The butcher block top also looks very nice and appears to be well made except it is not sanded smooth in places. Overall, it really is a good looking piece but for well over $500 I expected an easier assembly and a lot better fit and finish.

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The description says this cabinet has TWO side pull-outs, but in fact, it only has one, unless you count the drawer as a pull-out. It came completely, and I do mean COMPLETELY, unassembled, with a 40 page set of nearly undecipherable instructions. None of the parts were labeled, and each one had to be measured to match it up with the parts list. It took me about 5 min to figure out I was never going to get this thing together myself, and ended up hiring a professional carpenter to put it together. It took him close to 4 hours, and it turned out some of the wooden screw hole covers and a couple of screw were short. He substituted the screws, but the covers are an odd size and I had to send a form (enclosed in the box) to the company to request "spare" parts. I have not heard back.

Once assembled, the unit feels sturdy and looks good although it was very much lighter than the photo, and I ended up staining it to get the "honey oak" color. Also. the butcher block was very rough and needed a lot of sanding.

Having said all that, the unit does look good in my kitchen, it is easy to move, and it is a good work height. But I will never order another item from this company unless it comes fully, or nearly fully assembled!

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This kitchen island was perfect for the space we needed filled. The instructions to put the island together were very clear and my husband and I were able to do it in about two and a half hours. We are very pleased with this product.

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