Beware! Do not buy this Secretary Desk

It’s a beautiful looking desk via a picture. The construction of it could not be more disappointing. See pictures below. It comes in 2 boxes. One is the top and weighs 129 pounds. It is completely assembled. The desk comes in the second box. It is flat and weighs 149 pounds. You are to assemble the desk via plastic locking system.

Very happy with this purchase!

The desk arrived in 2 HUGE cartons that were a struggle for my husband and I to get into the house so make sure you have help. These things weigh a ton and there are 2. We ended up take the pieces out of the box and carrying them to where we were putting the desk. As usual, we inspected every piece before putting it together. Even though it was packed well, there were several nicks and dings but none of them were in areas that would show once assembled. Assembly was super easy and the installed cam system worked really well. It was tough on the thumbs pushing those little levers so we ended up using the handle of a small screwdriver. I'm not sure how you'd put this together without an extra set of hands. The base has you install all 4 dividers and then add the back. That took some effort with 2 but wasn't as bad as expected. It was really nice not to have a big bag of hardware like you do in Ikea furniture. We did have to vacuum the piece to get all the little dots of white styrofoam that stuck to it with static. They stuck everywhere. I love the desk and it has all the storage that we needed. It looks great and I love that I can close the hutch to hide it all rather than pick everything up every time I work. I'd give it 5 stars if it weren't for those dings.

Desk is very pretty once assembled. It's more of a cream than a bright white. It arrived fairly timely in 2 boxes. You have to assemble the ENTIRE bottom part of the desk. The hutch comes mostly assembled. The boxes were a bit damaged and the UPS driver literally seemed to have dropped it on the steps (he knocked but was gone before we could get to the door!) but there seems to have been minimal damage (one cabinet door cracked and missing part of the installation hardware- waiting to hear what Overstock says in response to my request for a new door). It's a bit of a hassle putting together (hubby had a few choice words about it). It's an interesting design he's never seen and he's put together literally 1000's of desks (he's in the moving industry). No screws needed except for the knobs because they have some kind of latching mechanism hardware built into the pieces that once you line the boards up, you latch the pieces together. Feels a bit flimsy when first putting together but comes together in what seems to be a fairly sturdy piece, although we're not sure about whether it's going to be able to very movable. Overall, happy with it. 4 stars due to the latching hassle, somewhat flimsy feel while putting it together, and the cracked cabinet door.

Beautiful desk, but...

Now that the desk is assembled, I love it and it blends perfectly with our antique bedroom furniture. However, there were some potholes on the road to completion and mentioning them may benefit the next purchaser. First off, as another reviewer mentioned, definitely have 2 strong people bring in the boxes, as they are incredibly heavy and cumbersome. Next, have a vacuum cleaner ready as little pieces of Styrofoam break off during the unpacking and fly everywhere. You will also need it to get the Styrofoam off of the wood, although a fabric softener sheet comes in handy for that, too. Be aware that the pieces are labeled very well but that some of the printed directions refer incorrectly to the letters on the pieces. A hint on drawer assembly-put together a back piece and a side piece, and then fit in the bottom. After locking that much, have someone hold the second side and the front together, fit them on the drawer bottom and then "lock it!, " which became our rallying cry as we assembled. This will save you much time and frustration. And, as another reviewer mentioned, we ended up re-drilling 2 holes on one set of the drawer runners as the screws were crooked and the drawer would not close. Also, once the back is on it is ON so be sure that everything is in place before attaching it. Now for the quality issues---in spite of the packaging and the mounds of Styrofoam, the desk top had a badly damaged corner and needed replaced. I called Hayneedle and was nicely told that I needed to call Crosley. Use the number on the back of the directions! The number I was given was for Crosley Radio, which would not have been much help. The Crosley Furniture people were great and quickly sent me the replacement top. It arrived packaged in miles of bubble wrap, which was better by far that sweeping up Styrofoam! After the desk was done and we stood admiring our handiwork I noticed that there is a 1" split in the top of the secretary top. All I could think of was having to haul another secretary top up a flight of stairs, so I am going to live with the split. I will, however, call Crosley tomorrow and let them know about it. All of this being said, this desk is beautiful and definitely a much better choice than many styles on the market. Once we figured out the easier way to assemble the drawers, things went very smoothly and we would have had it done in one evening if the top had not been damaged.