I must be one of the lucky ones because my desk arrived with no damage at all. Assembly took quite a bit of time, but the instructions are actually half-way decent; not perfect, but better than average. The lighting in my pictures makes the top of the desk (and my flooring) look brownish but both are much grayer than brown.When you assemble the desk, you need to know which side you want the return to be on because assembly is completely different, and the decision comes quickly. I would say the most confusing part of the installation is figuring out how the drawer slides go in because the pictures are beyond tiny. I suggest that before installing the slides, you look "a step ahead" since the picture is actually a bit easier to at least see the direction each slide needs to face. Also pay attention to this step because there are two different sizes of slides.I would say it took me a good 3-4 hours to assemble this desk, can't say for sure since I sort of did it in increments. I recommend having a cordless drill available for the larger screws but don't use a drill on the smaller screws (especially the tiny screws for the drawer slides) since you could easily end up stripping the hole in the particle board.I have no complaints really; the desk feels very solid and has a great amount of workspace. I may change up my configuration but plan to give it a few workdays to see how I like this setup.*** Update 04/28/2023 ***It's been over 3-months so figured I would update my review. This desk is still solid, nothing has changed at all. No screws have come loose, nothing is peeling, etc. The more I use it the more I wish it was a couple inches taller since standard office chair arms are too close to the underside of the top of the desk, but the measurements are clearly listed so I am not faulting the desk. The key is, the desk after over 3-months is still just like new.