This desk came to me in two boxes: one long/wide enough to fill the back floor of my SUV; the other was approximately half the length, but a little deeper. Both boxes are heavy weighing 52 lbs. each and require two people to lift. The smaller of the two boxes contains the instructions, which were fairly easy to follow. Nothing is pre-assembled; however, most of the holes are pre-drilled. It took me approximately four hours to put together by myself. The only time I needed help was when placing the desk top onto the frame. My only real complaint is the quality of the drawers and of the hardware. The drawers are mostly made of MDF, and the longevity of MDF drawers is questionable. The hardware is made of aluminum which is soft and easy to bend and/or break. I broke the head off one of the wood screws without much effort, and I slightly over tightened one of the cams which caused it to bend. Great care needs to be taken with the hardware as only one or two extra pieces is provided for the wood screws and cams. Do not over tighten anything on this piece as it will strip very easily and crack the pieces you are screwing into. As others have mentioned, it's a good sized desk. I purchased this desk for my sewing room, and it will provide plenty of space to lay my art quilts on as I sew them. All in all once fully built this desk is pretty sturdy, the finish is great for the shabby chic look Im trying to accomplish, and the price was fairly good. I would have given 3.5 stars because I think this piece is above average. I bumped it up to 4 stars because 3.5 wasn't an option.