Prepac Sonoma 3-Cubbie Storage Bench with Seat, Black - Entryway Organizer for Shoes, Hats & Bags | Perfect for Mudrooms, Hallways & Bedrooms

After pricing solid wood benches for my mudroom and suffering sticker-whiplash, I decided to bend my standards and go for the pressboard stuff (it is, after all, only a mudroom). Although this cubby -is- pressboard and I am well aware it's not going to hold up for three generations like the solid wood furniture I usually buy, I must say I am pleased with this purchase. The cubby is extremely attractive and it's not readily apparant its not real wood. The directions to put it together were nice and clear and it went together in perhaps 40 minutes (including time to go dig out two screwdrivers and a hammar). It fits perfectly where I needed it to go and the seat is just the right height for an adult to sit on without scrunching down, but not so high that my kids can't sit on it. The kids boots fit easily in the three cubbies. I can fit a pair of snow boots and a pair of rain boots in each cube.Why not 5 stars? It's pressboard and the same fastening techniques which made it such a pleasure to quickly put together will also make it vulnerable. I'm a wood snob. Perhaps I'm being unfair for not giving it that 5th star as it is exactly what I purchased, but I foresee, like all pressboard products, that this product will solve a problem for a set period of time before it gets banged up. Especially if subjected to the kind of prolonged abuse children tend to dish out on items that can be climbed/sat upon such as this. Unlike real wood, once pressboard starts to fall apart, it's history. You can't simply use a bigger screw and a bit of wood glue to cobble it back together and refinish it. Especially this particular kind of pressboard, which is more porous than medium density fiberboard. However, this cubby was 1/4 the price of a wooden one. I feel I got exactly what I paid for and I am happy with my purchase.My only real 'complaint' is that the decorative trim at the very bottom only has screws at both ends (to help hold the sides together, I presume) but no 'pegs' in the middle as the other pieces have. If you kick the kick-trim, it moves inward. Having 2-3 additional pegs in the middle would add a bit more structural integregrity not only to prevent that, but also add a bit more strength to the overall design.If you don't mind pressboard and want an attractive, functional storage cubby to solve a problem for the 5-7 years I anticipate this product will last, I highly recommend it. It looks every bit as nice as the $400 wooden one I priced at one of the name-brand furniture stores. Amortized over the anticipated lifespan, it is money well spent. It looks mighty nice in my mudroom and nobody would ever know I cheaped out unless they pull it out and look at the back of it.I have been wanting a mudroom locker for over a year and could not quite find something affordable that I liked. While searching Amazon I found the Prepac line and my mind started spinning with affordable ideas!This is 2 Prepac entryway organizers (I left the shoe cubbies out), a Prepac 36 in entryway coat hanger cubby and a 2 cubby shoe bench.The entryway organizers are great for storage. I left the shoe cubbies out because my husband and boys WILL NOT pick their shoes up and put them on a shelf so open cubbies allows them to be lazy but clean ? It took me (and my 9 year old son) about 2 hours to put the first one together but it was his first attempt at building so most of the time was spent explaining and coaching. The second one took me about 45 minutes to build alone. A few tips: before placing the backing mark where the top and middle shelf are so you can put a couple nails in that area to support the backing. The instructions only say to put nails around the outer border.The shoe bench took me about 30 minutes to put together. I have ordered a cushion to put on top for protection.The 36 in wall cubby is a breeze to put together. It took me about 30 minutes to put together alone.I put wood glue in any seam that was not visible on all 4 pieces to add a little support to the pieces. For the entryway organizers and the bench I added the wood glue BEFORE putting the backer on! The entryway organizers have a piece of wood that doesn’t go on the pieces as it is to help pack and protect the box. I used one of these boards as a support in the back to connect the organizers and bench together and painted the top of the board white so it matched.This cost me less than $500 total! It has plenty of space for a family of 4 and guests.Bench is a very nice addition to the room. Was fairly straight forward and easy to assemble.White looks great, sturdy! I added baskets and a cushion! ?This is a cute bench. I think it's going to work good for what I want it for. My problems are in the assembly. It comes with these black plastic brackets, step 6, that you're supposed to hammer in to each piece but then in step 7 it says not to hammer it into the part of the bench that's already assembled. It was very difficult to get the pieces in all the way. I ended up having to hammer it but in order to not damage the bench, I put a towel in between the hammer and the bench. Same black brackets are used in step 5B in order to secure the top of the bench onto the cubby dividers. Even using a towel and hammer I was unable to get the pieces flush together. In the process of trying to get the pieces flush, it cracked the bottom decorative piece ( see pictures ). The decorative piece at the bottom definitely needs something to secure it in the middle because once it is sat on that piece sags down to the floor. This is made even worse now by the fact that mine has a huge crack in it. I guess I will go to the hardware store and try to find some brackets in order to fix that. When hammering the back panel onto the rest of the bench there are no guidelines when you're hammering it into the cubby dividers. This caused me to be off center and the nail splitting the wood that you can see from the front. The overall look is nice but I'm not sure about how sturdy it's going to be. The point for our bench just to have it in our entryway so when people come in they can sit down and take their shoes off. I'm interested to see how this bench holds up over time...The top corner piece came broken. Looks like what I want but disappointed that it is already brokenWe bought this bench together with the matching shelf for our small hallway. I was so exited at the beginning. I loved the color( same as on the picture). It is hard to find a color for this type furniture rather then white, brown or black. The bench color is a mix of grey and beige and gives it a rich look, regardless to it's low quality. It is very easy to put it together as well, because instructions are very helpful.I am disappointed with the depth of the shelf. I made a measurements before we bought is and was hoping that it will fit good. It did fit good to our very small entrance room, but the depth is a bit bigger than we need. We can't open the door even a halfway. The door always touches the corner of the bench and we put baby-corner-protection in order not to catch it. It would fit perfectly and look better , if it is 2 inches shorter in depth .It is strong enough to keep my weight when I am sitting (160 pounds). I gave it only 3 starts because of the quality. I guess you get for what you pay. It is made of wood chips inside and it's very easy to scratch or chip a piece. We had two big chipped pieces out while using electrical screwdriver when we were assembling it. My husband glued it back, but you can see it if look good. Also, you have to be careful not to put sharp or metal stuff, because the surface is easily scratched. I am doubting that you can keep the metal basket that shown on the Amazon picture, because it will be scratched a lot by taking it in-and-out very often. We didn't return it back because of the complications of sending back a heavy piece of furniture for us. So I hope, that " presentable" look will last at least 3-5 years until we will buy something better quality in the same color.Perfect fit for where I needed it. Unfortunately the cubbies are smaller than the IKEA standard ones so all the nice boxes and baskets are too large. It came scratched on top, so if you are looking for a perfect unit be careful. Need 2 types of screwdrivers, a hammer, and a mallet to put together. Instructions were okay to follow as long as you are vigilant.I bought this item to use in my front hallway as I do not have a mudroom and wanted to use the cubby holes as a place to keep shoes, while also having a bench to sit on to put on said shoes.Assembly: This package arrived unassembled, and similar to an IKEA product I found it easy to put together - I did it alone too.Quality: not the best but given the price you do get what you pay for. I had a couple of paint chips on my particular piece but I covered it with black marker and now you can't tell.Overall: I am pleased with the product. It looks nice in my hallway and served its purpose of cleaning up all the shoes that were being tossed around.Very easy to assemble, instructions very clear. I gave it only 4 stars because the bottom piece, maybe because of the pressure is already cracked. I am not sure when I cracked it, during assembling or after, I don't know, but the finished product looks pretty good in the entryway. It is holding some of my shoes and other knickknack. Overall I am quite happy with the purchase.arrived fast but the front bottom facing was cracked. I'm going to try and fill it with wood filler and paint over it to make it less noticeable. I'm using it as a TV stand and storage unit upstairs in my living room. other than the cracked facing it's really cute and I like it