Prepac WDC-2354 Monterey 6 Drawer Tall Chest, White

Over the last several months, I've bought several pieces of furniture that need assembly - mostly tall shelves for my bedroom and living room. And I've been shocked over and over again by the shoddy quality of the manufacturing process and the unclear instructions - even though I read the comments carefully and hadn't seen any warnings. I've had to ship back more than half of them for a refund, and I got to the point that I decided to never again buy wood shelves - just metal ones. But I needed a new dresser, and this one fit the bill - just the right size. Most of the reviews were good, so I took a chance. First - Yes, it's incredibly heavy. And that can be a problem these days when delivery companies leave packages at your front door - and I live on the third floor with no elevator. (I'm a 68-year-old woman - fairly strong.) So I was incredibly lucky that the UPS delivery woman took pity on me and carried it upstairs for me. She told me she only did it because I'm a senior, and her boss would not have been happy to see her do that. She was young and strong, but it was still incredibly difficult for her. I offered to help her carry it, but she said she was trained to do it, so she insisted on doing it herself. At one point, she rolled it end over end up the stairs. Wouldn't it be great if companies began shipping heavy packages in two boxes? So I was a bit nervous, because if the product was defective, there was no way I could take it back to the post office. Second - I was astonished at the quality of the workmanship and the clear instructions. I went slowly and methodically, following the instructions to the letter, and had no problems at all. Took two or three hours. (Had to laugh at the guy who complained about things that went wrong - clearly he doesn't believe in reading or following instructions.) Third - I screwed in everything by hand until I got to the end. Then it was much easier to use an electric screwdriver to put the final screws in the drawers. Fourth - inserting drawers. I was a bit worried because I had a few problems inserting them, but I soon realized that was just my mistake. If you roll them in carefully, they go in perfectly. I think it's possible that the company has corrected mistakes that it made in the past because it was beautifully packaged with no damage at all and almost the perfect number of screws. I had three left over. There was a slight odour, but not unpleasant. Companies that do this quality of work need to be rewarded, so I recommend reading comments carefully and buying only from companies with excellent reviews. The final piece is beautiful and sturdy, and the handles are high quality. I'm delighted with it and can't wait to use it. At some point I may paint the drawers.

When I received my package I have to admit, it was much heavier then I expected. (I felt sorry for the postman/woman). However, I thought this was a good sign as far as quality goes. Upon opening it I was overwhelmed with pieces and parts. It took me about 2 hours to assemble. My cats and dog had a hay day with all the cardboard and plastic wrap everywhere. I really took my time and made sure not to miss any pieces even though at the end of the day I had a few left over screws.. hope I didn't need those.... Anyways, the instructions were in my opinion very good. They are detailed and you may have to read them once or twice but if you follow closely you will do fine. If you are not the kind of person who likes to assemble furniture and you don't have a handy hubby in your life I would not buy this. There is quite a bit of assembly required here. I love this dresser and Amazon had the best price. It is a bright white color, and the quality of the hardware is great. I sometimes find the drawers to be a little unsturdy when you have loads of underwear or what ever in them and the drawers almost fall out when you pull them out to grab something, however I haven't found a good dresser that doesn't have that fault. Maybe its just me.

Okay, it did take me a while to put this one together, simply because there are so many screws and cam bolts and drawer runners to attach. However, once done the chest is quite impressive. I'm impressed that (a) the sides of the drawers are actual wood, and they were very easy to put together. Once the drawers were built, each one was solid...even the drawer bottoms are sturdy (compared to some other furniture I've purchased in the past). Most of the chest is composed of a composite wood, but again, it's not the particle-board-like compressed wood that can be seen in some furniture. This is a densely packed composite, which allows screws to grip. (I wish the bed I'd purchased a while ago had been made with this, instead of the flaked particle board components that it had.) The drawers are pretty spacious and will hold quite a lot, and the overall design is great for rooms with limited space. Perfect for my bedroom. My only con(s) on this one is what I'm starting to see more of with furniture these days: (1) the instructions, while not too bad, could have been better. I prefer to have all of the parts listed at the very beginning - both hardware and components - so I can check everything off before attempting to put furniture together. For this one, the hardware was listed individually at the beginning, but the parts of the chest were only listed as you went through the instructions to build. (2) A majority of the hardware was tossed into one big bag, all mixed together, which meant having to separate each one in order to take a tally. (3) No extra hardware was included (something that manufacturers used to do...include an extra screw, cam bolt, bolt, etc. for each piece in case one is lost or defective). I did run into a minor problem with one screw with this chest, as the slot in the head wasn't made quite deep enough (a defect) and so I struggled with that one screw for over half an hour before finally managing to get it in place. These are minor inconveniences, but something that can make or break a good review for a manufacturer. Overall though, I'm really pleased with this chest. It's very pretty, very sturdy once built, doesn't take up much space, and offers quite a bit of storage for clothing or other odds and ends. Well worth the purchase.

Very solid generally speaking but be aware that pressed wood furniture and with the type of clamping devices provides may loosen after some time in use and will tend to fall apart. I suggest using a bit of industrial glue (which you can get in home depot) in areas that require structural strength. Also, the base of all drawers is almost cardboard; this will bow down over time with the weight you put in there. Clothes or anything will bow this. Thus, I suggest using the same industrial glue in the slots that hold these bottoms in place.

Good quality for price, says 2 people recommend to put together, but I was able to do it myself in about an hour and a half. One piece was the wrong one, but customer service was great and got right on sending me the right one!