This shelf is durable and well put together. However, assembly IS required. You will be required to glue hefty pegs in place and to screw in some allen-hex screws.
This is made of real wood, not particle board, so you'll have to wiggle a little here and there to get it all lined up. Once it's in place, the screws hold it together snugly while the pegs dry.
The peg holes are a little oversized because it's consumer assembly, and you don't want someone breaking it with a hammer. As such, I recommend overuse of wood/white glue to fill the holes.
Once it's assembled, the "smart" thing to do is to wait a day or two for the glue to dry, and make sure there are no drips/runs.
However, I loaded mine up with books and equipment immediately and have been very happy with it over the last 6 months. I've moved it around, leaned on it, piled heavy books on top, etc.
Because it's open on the sides, the weight is much less than something more solid. The slats hold in most anything I'd want to put on the shelves. There's even a little room under it which I found was good for packing into a corner with a torchiere light, or for hiding misc stuff. YMMV as you might find it simply collects dust bunnies.
Either way, my unit does not wobble other than being tall and thin. It supports any book load I put on it, free-standing.
In summary, this is REAL WOOD, free standing, about 5' tall, and can be assembled by one person with a sore back in about 20 minutes with glue and an allen wrench. It can be carried by one person, but is stable on the floor.
I needed a shelf to store my cookbooks -the area where I wanted to put the shelf is only 23" wide, so very narrow. I was a bit nervous to purchase this shelf, based on the number of negative/neutral reviews, but since it really suited my needs I decided to risk it. I'm so glad I did! This is a solid wood shelf, NOT particle board. Yes, there are a fair few screws you'll need to use and pegs you'll need to match up with holes, but it wasn't a nightmare for me to put together. It took a little patience and about thirty minutes of careful assembly. I found it worked well for me to put one side together fully, and then work my way up starting from the bottom to install the second side of the shelving and the pegged backings and shelves, etc, and just work my way upward. The unit is easy to move around once it's assembled; it's solid wood, but not super heavy to manuever. I did have to place a stabilizer under the front legs, but I honestly chalk that up to my uneven flooring rather than the product having a deficiency (our house is 120+ years old; the floors have moved and are slightly sloped by now). The espresso color is a rich dark brown and compliments the other dark wood furniture in the room (please see picture that I uploaded, showing shelf next to my antique piano). My unit arrived without any damage or scratches and was packaged nicely. The shelf is a product of Thailand and is distributed via British Columbia, Canada. The shelves are generously deep, allowing for tall and oversized books to be inserted and stored; many of my cookbooks are oversized and this shelf works perfectly for storing them. I have decided to buy a second unit for the same area of my home, seeing as this first one is working so well for me. I give this product five stars because I really do love how it works for me. I recommend giving this product a try if the dimensions suit your needs.
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Was looking for a narrow, inexpensive shelf to put in my bathroom for towels, etc, and as size goes, this one is perfect. The color is nice, and it is made out of decent wood. However, the finish is cheap, and, as another reviewer mentioned, you have to look at each piece carefully to see which side is the lesser of the evils to put face-up. The packaging is awful...hardly any styrofoam, the shelves are each wrapped in one thin sheet of paper, so I'm pretty sure it gets the scratches and dents during shipment. It is a nightmare to assemble as well (I'm pretty handy...and not even just "for a girl"). It comes with these mammoth screws, which you have to screw with a miniature allen wrench into the too-small pre-drilled holes. Ridiculous. When you finally get it assembled, it is neither square nor plumb, and it is very wobbly. After taking to it with a mallet and wedging something under one leg to stabilize it, it is ok to put things on. You get what you pay for...but next time I'll just browse the classifieds and find a sturdier pre-owned shelf.
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Purchased as extra shelving for a spare room. Everything about these shelves, from the materials to the fit, is of the poorest quality. I was barely able to assemble the unit due to the incredibly lame construction of the pieces. Absolutely not recommended for any purpose.
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I received the shelves a couple of weeks ago, with quick shipping. I was very happy to receive them, I ordered the 3 shelf system too, and was easy to assemble and came with the tool to do so. I didn't need my husband and it took about 30 to 45 minutes to put together. Well, once i had it set up and finally filled it up with all the things I wanted hidden and out of the way. It looks great in my bedroom and I did order the baskets for it too which fit perfectly. You can use them with the shelving unit or even by itself. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a smaller unit (but good size) with a decent amount of storage space. I love the darker wood and easy assembly.
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I really dont understand how the previous reviews can give this curio 5 stars.
