Liberty 42.52 in. White 2-Shelf TV Stand

With so many negative user reviews of this and other Manhattan Comfort products elsewhere online I was a bit reluctant to buy this TV stand. But I couldn't find anything else that suited my needs at this same price level so I rolled the dice--and I'm glad I did! The three biggest complaints I see about this relate to shipping damage, quality of construction, and ease of assembly and I'm happy to state that at least in my case, none of these were an issue: -Shipping Damage? This arrived in a box that was wrapped in plastic, padded with styrofoam, and reinforced on the edges with fiberboard. Sure enough there was no damage, and all parts were there. However, there were indeed a lot of scuffs and marks on the panels, most of which were easily wiped off, one had a weird yellow blotch that again I wiped off, and one corner edge had some dried glue blobs that flaked right off. I advise giving it all a once over with a rag and mild surface cleaner before assembly. -Quality of construction? This is cheap MDF furniture and in my experience things like misaligned drill holes, pieces not fitting flush, etc. are not unusual. This went together with none of those issues. It seems stable, sturdy and everything is square. Of course there are a few cost-cutting spots like screw holes that aren't countersunk, etc. but overall not bad. In terms of durability I would call it medium-duty, which is fine as I don't plan to overload it. The finish is not amazing, and I do have a feeling it could be dinged fairly easily. -Ease of assembly? I saw all these complaints of it taking forever and a day to assemble. But in fact it took me less than an hour, and if you pay close attention to the booklet illustrations and have an organized work space it shouldn't take all day for you either. I was a little apprehensive when the very first step instructed me to screw directly into the wood with no pilot hole, but I did so carefully and that was the only instance of that; the rest of the holes were pre-drilled, the instructions are visual, each unique set of parts is bagged and labelled, and the panels have unfinished edges/sides which make it obvious which way they should go. Just take your time, don't go Hulk mode over tightening things, and BE PATIENT! That's the key to putting these things together successfully. That said, here are some assembly tips: -After unpacking, keep the two large pieces of styrofoam and the two halves of the box. These will come in handy for those steps where you need to lay the unit down on one side or another. -Always visualize where the front, back, top, and bottom of the unit are; the panels are unfinished on the bottom and back sides, so knowing which way is up will help greatly in orienting things. -When installing the legs to the bottom panel, hold the leg flush against the panel while driving the screw. Before giving each screw that last turn, look at the leg straight from the short end of the panel to make sure the leg is aligned properly (it should appear to stick straight out of the panel, not at an angle), then tighten up. DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN! These holes are unfortunately not countersunk and you risk damaging the MDF if you do. Just tighten enough so the legs feel solid and don't wobble. -It's easiest to bolt the upright panels to the base panel if the unit is laying on its back. -When lowering the top panel onto the unit, do so carefully to make sure all dowels and screws line up with their holes. You may need to pound lightly with your palm to get the dowels to pop in; just make sure to support the bottom of the unit while doing so. -When attaching the rear fiberboard panels, lay the unit down on its face. Lay out the panels so they meet nice and square; nail down the little metal square claw pieces first to join the three pieces, then nail around the edges. -It's easiest to install the cabinet door with the unit standing on its right side, so the door can lay flat while installing its hinges to the side panel. SUMMARY: This is typical MDF furniture but I found it to be a good value, a practical unit that really looks nice. Time will tell how sturdy it really is, but so far I'm happy. I might be one of a lucky few, but I also see that in some cases it's user error, neglect, or just not following instructions. And since people tend to only review things after a negative experience, I thought I'd provide my own positive review for some balance!

Poor wood material

Easy to put together and nice quality for the price.

Pre-drilled holds for the legs were a bit small, but still a perfect 5-star.

Really happy with this piece! Had some small difficulties with a few of the screws, but it came with plenty of extra parts so it all worked out. It was super straightforward to put together and took maybe 45 minutes, if that. Final product looks really chic and I’ve gotten tons of compliments.

Love it!!

The quality is what you'd expect for the price. Be careful putting it together so you don't damage the sides or top. But with a TV on top and a couple components on the shelves the overall look is great especially in a small room.

Exceeded expectations. It's a high quality piece of furniture that you will be happy you'd purchased. It's easy to assemble, about an hour or so depending on your level of experience, nothing too hard. You will be very pleased with the end result. It's beautiful color and unique mid century design will make it one of your favorite pieces.

It’s a well constructed, sturdy TV stand. I chose “in white & rustic brown” combination and I love it. Its body materials are beautifully finished in shiny (yet elegant) & smooth that impressed me. I couldn’t tell what kind of surface finish would be from the description but I’m glad to decide to purchase this one. Assemble manual is pretty good and straightforward. All parts are marked with Alphabet order. Cute tools are included and also there are extra parts, come with. It looks definitely 2 or 3 times more expensive than the price here. I highly recommended.

Rating provided by a verified purchaser