This shelf was well-packed and is made of attractive and very solid real birch. Assembling it, though, was almost impossible. My husband and I have assembled an awful lot of furniture over the years, including pieces far more elaborate than this, but this was by far the most challenging piece we have encountered. It took two days and disassembling and reassembling the thing twice before we got it together. The issue is the back panels-- they are thin (maybe 1/4"") plywood sheets, one that slides in behind the top shelf and one that slides in behind the bottom shelf. You have to make sure the grooves for the plywood line up perfectly when you attach the shelves to the side piece, then hold the shelves perfectly level while sliding the plywood in. It's tough to get the plywood all the way in, and even tougher to keep it in. Then, you're supposed to tip the whole thing on its end and attach the final side. For us, the shelves were too far apart to fit in the grooves on the side piece, and if you can't fit the shelves in the corresponding grooves, you can't finish the project. Aargh!
