Home Decorators Collection Vernon Hall Tree, Single, Smokey Brown

The shipment does come in four boxes, three of which came on the same day, each weighing roughly 50 lbs. The fourth came on the next day and weighed roughly 80 lbs. For a piece this big, I am not sure why anyone would think that it would not come in many pieces (which would mean many boxes). It is not as if it is being shipped to you already assembled. I would rather get the boxes divided in 50 lbs than one 250 lb box, but I digress. All the pieces were packaged well with styrofoam surrounding each piece. Each piece had a label to identify what piece it was, as well as directional stickers showing the direction the piece should face (up, forward). Even the screw packages were divided up based on screw type and labeled. Some of the boxes looked as if they had been handled roughly during shipping, but NONE of the pieces had even a minor dent or scratch on them due to the superb packaging.I am very impressed with the quality of the build. Most pieces lock together with cams and included covers so the cams wouldn't show. The back piece that rides from the lower seating part to the upper shelving is made of thick wood, not particle board, so it is strong enough to hold a good bit of weight on the hooks without fear of tearing through the wood.I have a lot of furniture in my home, with many individual pieces ranging over $1500 and this piece fits right in with them.Without rushing, I did put it together in about 5 hours. This included laying out each piece and inventorying them to verify they were all present before assembly. It really isn't hard to assemble and the instructions are pretty good. I did have to pre-drill the holes to install the two doors on the lower level just because their holes weren't quite good enough to allow the screws to go in as easy as I would have liked. All the other holes were nicely pre-drilled. One person can put this together with no problem. I did use a cordless screwdriver for many screws, and hand-tightened them to finish them off. Don't try to use a cordless screwdriver on the cam bolts though.I was impressed with the level of detail each piece had in fitting together with the other pieces. Even the back piece is reinforced with a two thick metal bars running vertically to give strength between the lower and middle sections, including pre-drilled screw holes for easy installation.The base has 5 knobs to sit on, one on each corner and one in the center.The unit sat about a 1/4" out from the wall because of the baseboard around the wall. There is nothing on this piece to prevent it from sitting flat against a wall (no decorative trim or moldings extending out the back). Since the top of the unit (shelving section) is pretty heavy, there is a slight wobble of the top section as it only has the back board holding it in place. I think it is necessary to fix this top point to the wall to give the piece a more solid feel. I took a 1/4" thick piece (which is about the thickness of my baseboard trim) of wood about 2.5' long and drilled it into two wall studs behind the unit about the same height as the top of the unit. I then drilled and screwed three inch screws through the top piece and into the wall studs which anchored the top to the wall (the top piece has nothing behind the moldings, so there is molding on three sides and about a 3/4" thick wood piece that runs along the back of the top piece, so drilling through this piece is a great option for anchoring it to the wall). The unit does come with wall support kit, but I did not like how they wanted to brace the top.Overall I am thrilled with this piece. Not only does it fit in with my other furnishings in quality, but it looks great and knocking on any of the wood sides has that thick, heavy wood sound. Nothing cheap about the quality of this. The only cons I can think of is that the drawers on the right side lower section stick a little when opening and you have to give them a good push to close them. Also, in the instructions I think my cabinet doors were labeled incorrectly, but it was easy enough to figure out where they went. Other than that this piece is top-notch and I have no problems recommending it to anybody. I would definitely buy other piece from Home Decorators Collection without hesitation. They even placed in one of the boxes a current catalog for 10% off another piece with free shipping.

Unit came in 4 boxes in 2 shipments. Don't start assembly until you have all 4. The instructions are easy to follow and the assembly process is straight forward for anyone with basic skills. Avoid using a drill or screw gun as the screws will tear out. Use a proper size flat head screw driver for the twist-lock fasteners. A Phillips screw driver will tear out and damage the fastener. Overall, the quality of the unit is nice. The back is solid wood and will hold coats or other items without issue. Fit and finish are good and I like the piece overall. The parts align correctly and are clearly labeled. Be sure to remove labels as you assemble and use a mild soap to clean off any glue reside from the labels. The unit is well worth the sales price and a similar piece from a custom builder would likely run 3X. A good value for someone willing to perform assembly and looking for a mid-range piece. It took approximately 4 hours to assemble using hand tools (no screw gun - again, avoid the screw gun). We scotch guarded the seat before placing out to protect against stain. Not sure if this is necessary, but a good precaution. Assembly can be performed by 1 person, but a helper for the larger parts is nice. I recommend clearing a large area before assembly as this is a large unit. Once the base is built, move the unit close to the final location before installing the back. Final placement will be much easier. The pull hardware is low-end, but we replaced with nicer handles (4) from the home center for just a few dollars and they better match the house.

This product is okay but required my husband a few hours to setup. As shown in the second picture, it was not well packaged as pieces were topsy-turvy when we opened the box. One of the back holders where you screw the whole backboard was damaged and required some repair. My hubby said he couldn't understand why they used MDF for a support that is this small. It was broken when it arrived thus needed some repair. Also, I didn't expect the product to be somewhat short. The hooks are only at chest height (and I am only 5'4"). Picture shown in reference to a 6-ft tall divider and a front door that is 8 ft tall. Imo, a hall tree should be taller. I couldn't return it because it will require some major disassembly. The finish is nice though and it is the exact size for where I need it to be.

This piece came in 4 different boxes on 3 different days. More piece than we wanted to count and took hours and a lot of patience to put together. Would not have ordered it if I would have known!

I received two boxes and within those two boxes I didn't receive all of the parts to complete this unit.

This item is not white. It is called polar white and is more of a light grey than white.

Well made. Love it.

nice