Sauder Brushed Maple Computer Desk - Modern Home Office Desk for Work & Study - Perfect for Small Spaces & Remote Work

TLDR: I did it! A very sturdy and beautiful desk is completed. Recommend going into this knowing it will take some time. Have a large carpeted space to work on. Watch a few old movies while you are at it. It is worth the effort!11:30 am. I use a hand truck to scoot the box into my apartment. I open the box next to my door because I can’t move it any farther. As I take the pieces out one by one, fear grips me. What if I get 90% done and realize I am missing a part? Next thought – these Styrofoam pieces are cool; I wonder if I can use them for something. Next thought, stop saving trash and move on! I start laying out pieces. Most are labeled with a sticker or by etching or stamping on the part A few have nothing as far as a label. I become confident in my power of deduction and elimination to identify the mystery parts. The instructions and illustrations seem to be written at my level, which is beginner level. Next, ooh, I find the packet of hardware. It is so cute, all bubble wrapped and sorted. My confidence grows. Next, I find the metal pieces for the slides for the pull-out tray. They are impressively heavy. At the bottom is the big piece, EE. EE is heavy! 11:45. Hmm, that big piece of cardboard it was packed in, I wonder...oh yeah, “Stop saving trash”.Off to the recycling bin and to buy a Phillips head screw driver and measuring tape. I have those somewhere, but apparently, I need two, so they can keep each other company, because the first set is hiding from me.I am back from the hardware store, our local Farm and Fleet. It took a while. There is some cute stuff there. I spent $23.00 on the tools. And two bags of hips. And a bag of caramel corn. I will cook carrots and tofu later – it will even out.While shopping, I realized there are some fun people here, and I should have showered first. I came home and showered. You never know when you will need to go to the hardware store again.12:45 and back at it. Not really, I Googled “Crafts with packing styrofoam.” Not helpful. But I did learn not to recycle the styrofoam, as it takes a lot of energy to process. Better in the trash. Wait, I already said that.1:00 and back at it.Sorted the big pieces. It appears the two unlabeled pieces are D260 and D263 Large drawer sides, right and left.I see that a No.2 Phillips screwdriver is required. I did buy a No. 2. Whew!Okay, now sorting the hardware. It is 1:45 and I do not know where the time has gone.2:30. Why, yes. I can confirm that all parts are present and counted. I got a little confused so labeled them with sticky notes. Fear grips me again. What if I drop and loose an essential screw or nail and I can’t finish. Why, yes. That has happened to me in the past. Well, actually, I just had to go to the hardware store in shame. But I have learned. I have a good feeling about this time.Sad discovery. Part B has a small chip on one edge. I took a picture. I am too far in to give up now. We will see if it shows in the finished project.3:17 First step done. DO I have the Hidden Cams in straight and the Cam Dowels in far enough. I have no reference point. It’s hopeful though. At least, per instructions, I did not tighten the HIDDEN CAMS in this step.4:00 step 2 is completed. I checked the list twice more than Santa would have. It was a little hard. Taking a break.5:50 and my break is over and I fastened the six angel brackets. Step three done.Step four was nerve wracking and step five was hard. I don’t want to talk about it...6:25 and I am determined. One step at a time.Step 6. More hidden cams. There is a nice illustration for how tight is too tight, and a warning for not going tight enough. But I would need to stand on my head, with a flashlight, to see the tiny guide clearly. So I am continuing to go by feel plus a little crank a little bit tighter. 6:55 and done with step 6 and step 7.Good news, the little chip is on the back and inside. That ended up okay.Step 8 is attaching the bases. They are cute arched pieces, so this is satisfying. And so now finally I see what those angle brackets are for. Bracket to desk, Bracket to arch. Attached. They slide in the groove of the arch pieces, so easily, with a little tapping, align with the holes of the desk.Step 9 is easy. Extra heavy pressed board is nailed to the backs. Hmm. This is supposed to add substantial stability. Okay? It looks good though.I wonder if I can tip this upright by myself. Meanwhile, I will construct the drawers while enjoying a movie. I am glad to be done with big pieces on the floor. Now I am working with small pieces on my ottoman. It’s 8:00 pm. There are several tricky steps with the drawers which are manageable because of the small size and weight.9:45. I am on the second movie. I am not going for speed at this point. Putting on the hinges and attaching the door was easy peasy! Believe those instructions that tell you how to adjust up and down and in and out. You get a perfect close.10:45. Here I am with completed Deskie. I named her Deskie after spending the day building our relationship. Building – get it! She is sturdy and sharp looking.Used for a home office this desk has clear instructions for assembly even though it did take a while to put together. All the pieces fit without difficulty and there were no missing pieces.Once put together the desk is sturdy and there is plenty of surface area on top, the drawer works well, the file drawer is handy and has enough room for everyday use files.The one drawback is the compartment made for the computer. While the computer tower fits just fine, it also encloses tightly so that there is not enough air flow and the computer tends to overheat. This problem was quickly discovered and temporarily solved by leaving the front door open, but that solution was not acceptable. A permanent acceptable solution was found by hooking up a USB fan and routing it to one of the pre-cut holes meant to route wires through and using that as an exhaust port for hot air. This solution seems to work just fine. It would however seem that a compartment made to hold a computer tower would be made with more ventilation in the panel on the back, but that is my only complaint and could be fixed easily prior to assembly with a hole saw.Overall, I'm extremely pleased with the desk, and for the price, I don't believe that it can be beat.Bought this desk in April of 2019 and began working from home in May 2019. After 3 years and two moves, it's still holding strong! The only "issue" I've had is where the veneer (or whatever it's called) on the top of the desk wore off from using the computer mouse without a mouse pad for the first 10 months. Other than that, it's still a great desk and well worth the money.I ordered this as a gift for my 17 yr old grandson. He absolutely loved and had no problem assembling it. When I got see it for myself I was pleasantly surprised with the sturdiness and appearance.Wow!!! Very impressed with the quality of this desk Excellent value for price. Very happy customers.Thanks So MuchSturdy and nice looking. It is very spacious.This desk is a solid unit and it looks great too. Typical "RTA" unit (Ready To Assemble) that went together easily and the instructions were clear. The keyboard tray is very wide and is able to hold a laptop and a scanner side-by-side, which was a big plus. Lots of room for all of the typical office gear. We had an upper shelf from another older desk that also fit on top of this Sauder desk, and it still left lots of space for everything. All told, this unit works well and we are very happy with it. The only thing that we changed was the knobs for the drawers and the door, as the ones that came with it were a bit industrial looking. We highly recommend this desk.This thing could wreck a marriage . It has a LOT of parts, putting it together is probably best as a solo project to keep the peace :)In all honestly its quite a solid desk and i am fairly happy with it, it looks nice to so that's a bonus.My only beef with this thing is that the PC compartment on this thing is to small.I have a midsize tower but it did not fit with the backing on nor can i put the shelf in that is supposed to fit in the same compartment. I can fit the PC in it but with the backing i would not be able to plug anything in to it.Remember when selecting shipping that this thing is quite heavy. It is over 130 pounds so the first UPS driver would not deliver it up my 3 flights of stairs which i cant blame him for to be honest :) Made some arrangements to give help and had a successful re-delivery. Remember that when you order this for delivery purposes. Its a heavy bastard lol.We bought this desk a few weeks ago and are loving it. It looks beautiful and my husband put it together all by himself in a couple of hours. I asked him how it was to assemble since I had read a few complaints on amazon.ca about the assembly. He said it was not harder than anything else he's had to put together.The desk arrived within a week of order.I searched a long time and through many stores to find the perfect desk for our space and I'm glad that I found this one. I love the keyboard tray because I still like to use a desktop computer when I'm working on a complex document.I also like how the computer tower is hidden away. I find the desk is a perfect size in terms of desk top space and storage. It seems like a piece of furniture that will last a long time. It was a good investment.I finally assembled the desk I got for my husband today after giving it to him as a Christmas present.Although I love this desk and it's absolutely beautiful I am disappointed in the state the desk was in taking it out of the package. Lots of the peaces had nicks and damage to them. This is unacceptable when buying a desk this expensive.I will be contacting the company directly.Good value for the moneyDownfall... The keyboard tray is not super tall so of the tray is in you can't squeeze in your hands to type or use the mouse quick quick.The finish is very fragile, the mouse wore off some of it already and anything scratches it.Good space for storage, easy to assemble. looks good and has ample space for screen and laptop set up