Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

I was a little concerned by some of the reviews on this, but my daughter had taken over my dining room bc she didn’t have space for her plants in her bedroom and SOMETHING had to be done. I’m one of those “poors” and the price was right at my limit of spending, but my husband was getting huffy and honestly she’s not the best at making sure the pots aren’t still wet when she puts them on the table so that all tipped me into the direction of this stand. I will disclose that I’m a handy gal. I grew up with a remodeler/carpenter dad and spent my fair share of endless hours holding stuff that needed measured or cut or something. I can put curtain rods up and thanks to masking adhd I can read technical instructions very closely and carefully, comparing each step’s instruction with it’s corresponding picture. That said, the stand does come in a tiny box in a bunch of pieces. It can be intimidating. Having successfully assembled it with the “help” of my five year old son, I can attest that it’s not all *that* difficult. First! Gloves. The wood will stain your hands. Next. Separate the pieces. Count them, make sure you have all the pieces. Decide if you want the ends of the slats on the shelves to face outward or sideways. Stack them all that way so during assembly you don’t forget to turn them the way you want them. During construction of the stand, when you are using the mallet to connect the wooden pieces to the plastic joints- try to put them on each side you’re working on evenly. Several reviews mention stress cracks in the plastic. Now, unless I just got the magically perfect set- the ONLY reason I can see the plastic stress cracking is because one side got put ALL the way on, and then the other side had to be forced into position by getting out on basically diagonally first before straightening out. Catch my drift? Count your strikes if necessary. Two on one side, two on the other, back to the other side for two, and so on. If you can, check for completion of the wood being put into the joint by a couple final whacks while on tile floor or similar. Obviously there should be no further movement and you will hear the muted sound that the total flush of wood against plastic makes, vs a kinda hollow echo. I do suggest following other’s suggestion of weighting the bottom shelves with heavier plants. Especially if you have five year olds or cats. This all took me about 40 minutes, even with a “helper”. Just relax, you can do it, it’s just a shelf and you are a smart and capable human being.