★★★★★ 4
Nice Looking Bookshelf... Lots of Work to Assemble
Color: Classic Cherry, Size: L:29.80" x W:13.09" x H:71.26"
I specifically bought this bookshelf because I already have the Heritage Hill desk and lateral file cabinet, so natually this is the one I wanted to add to my office.
LOOKS: This shelving unit has the same look as the other pieces to the Heritage Hill collection, so it fits in perfectly to the look of my office.
STURDINESS: I'm not a big fan of the side panels because are not one continuous piece. It definitely is not very sturdy while you are trying to assemble it (more on that later) but once it is fully assembled and secured to the wall it seems very sturdy. I do not anticipate any issues.
STABILITY: A wall anchoring bracket was included with the product, so when it's properly attached to a wall there will be no concerns over stability. They did not include a drywall anchor with the bracket, so unless you plan to screw this directly into a stud, you definitely need to have a drywall anchor on hand to use.
ASSEMBLY: This is where it gets a little frustrating. I am no stranger to assembling pieces of furniture from kits like this. I understand why they have chosen to use the hidden screws and L-brackets everywhere, but it does add time on to the assembly. It probably took me about 90 minutes to assemble this product.
The trim pieces that go on to the front of the shelves (around the sides, top, bottom, and fixed shelf) make the shelf look like a higher quality product, and the L-brackets you use to attach them have oval-shaped holes so that you can adjust the positioning of each piece of trim to make everything line up right. You can adjust the positioning so that you don't see any of the unfinished wood or have ugly gaps.
Or so I thought! This trick worked fine for everything except the 3 adjustable shelves which also have a trim piece that go on the front, but for the life of me I could not get everything to line up properly. I read this in other reviews so I was prepared to do some troubleshooting and adjusting, but I could not get it to look right, so I just left these pieces off. You really don't need them. It makes the shelves easier to more around and it still looks great. The directions offer some "hints" on what to fix. There was a 1/4" gap between the edge of the shelf trim and the edge of the trim going down the side of the shelf. So the directions tell you to adjust the side pieces of trim to close the gap. Well the problem with doing that is after you adjust the side trim then the other edge of it no longer lines up properly with the edges of the trim piece of the fixed shelf.
Another tip: You don't have to leave the thing laying on its back the whole time you are trying to screw in the hidden screws or the L-brackets. You can carefully rotate it onto each of its sides to complete the installation of all the trim pieces, and it actually makes it easier to make sure they are lined up properly to each other the first time. I was just careful doing this because it's not very sturdy while it's being constructed.
They also include a touch-up marker in the package as well that really is the same color as the wood finish. I had a couple pieces that had minor scratches on them, probably from shipping. I had great luck with the marker by just coloring in all the scratches and then rubbing all around it with my finger. One larger spot needed this done about 3 times, but when I had finished, I really couldn't tell it was ever scratched, especially at the "normal viewing distance" I would normally see it from.
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Reviewed in the United States on June 22, 2020
