I don’t write many reviews but these puppies deserve a shout out. I know furniture. My first job was working for a major furniture company in the warehouse. I’ve assembled more pieces of furniture than I care to admit. Every time I moved with my job (over a dozen times), I bought more furniture. I can reliably give my unbiased opinion about this pair:(1) The shipment comes in two boxes. I got about 3/4 of the way with the first piece and thought I was missing another box. I plugged on and once I was finished, I was left with enough parts for the second piece. And lemme tell you, there are a LOT of pieces and a LOT of fasteners, screws, and dowels.(2) I’m not lyin, this first piece took me about two hours to assemble. Considering how many assemblies I’ve got under my belt, I didn’t expect it to take as long as it did. I used a drill to speed things up and it really really helped. If I didn’t have a drill and knowing what I do now about this set, I’d have paid to have it assembled. If you fit time to kill, have at it. But expect to spend at least 3 hours if you’ve got little experience under your belt.(3). The instructions and illustrations are the best I’ve seen for any assembled furniture. Real pictures of the fasteners *really* help. The pieces are all marked very well and described perfectly in the instructions. Again, I have to say this is one of the most well thought out product design, tools (all included) and directions.(4) The final product is quite impressive. They provide felt covers for every visible fastener to hide the silver. I used only a fraction because most are in too hard of areas to note. But the amount they provide shows they really care about craftsmanship.(5). The quality is solid. It’s a sturdy piece of furniture and when you’re done, it looks terrific. I was expecting it to be bigger than it was. The view from picture appears to be a good sized nightstand. It is smaller, but damn, the unit looks amazing when it’s lit up and that alone was the reward for the hassle of self assembly.(6). The Lights - - what can I say, the strip lights under the riser make this thing ROCK. I’m big on ambient lighting and this sets the mood amazingly well.Overall, I’d give this unit a 10. I’m a harsh critic and I couldn’t find one to thing I didn’t like about these nightstands. Yes, assembly was a major pain in the tail, but when you’re done, you can be proud of your efforts and how these will look in your bedroom!