Highland Park White Computer Desk with Shelves and Drawer

Pros: * Aesthetics. Looks REALLY nice in my kitchen! * Price. Nice, cheap desk if you don't mind going mentally insane trying to figure out how to put it together Lol. * Potential to "add-on"...such as (for my needs) building an extended cubby tower on top of the cubby drawer at the right of the desk. * Easily modable/paintable/customizable. * Large seating space given small dimensions. * Enough room for full size keyboard and mouse to fit side by side on the keyboard tray. * The right side cubby drawer has a solid quality bottom to it. I was surprised! Usually, desks this inexpensive with drawers have cheap bottoms that sag over time. The bottom for this drawer is 1/8 inch thick and very solid. I'm EXTREMELY happy about that! * Order from VMInnovations. TOP NOTCH CUSTOMER SERVICE!!! I had a damaged part, called their customer service 800 number and a new part arrived a day earlier than projected! They were on it like an Easter bonnet, baby! They have a shipping warehouse located 20 minutes from me, so item delivered next day after ordering. Spare parts ship from the mid-west (can't remember where). * If you have questions I will be happy to answer them promptly! (as long as I get a notification)

Cons: * Assembly. They're atrocious! (see "Other") * Not much storage capability if you plan to place your PC at the bottom. * No other Cons. The assembly is the only thing really wrong with this desk.

Overall Review: See my specs below regarding what size chair will fit all the way in the desk. I didn't find any solid answers to my question about chair size, but I bought anyway knowing I had a back up plan in place. So, this desk REALLY is nice! 5 eggs easily for aesthetics and construction (with one caveat, which brought the rating down). 10 eggs for price and what it offers. We purchased this because we needed a desk for a small space in the kitchen, but at the same time wanted something that was big enough to be comfortable while using. And since I had an idea to expand the right side cubby area for more storage it was a good choice for us. I don't normally like placing computers in cubby spaces due to overheating issues, but since it's only used for general Youtube and internet browsing and not any gaming that's fine. I gave this desk 3 stars because the assembly instructions are HORRID! (which is fitting, considering I put it together around Halloween :D). It probably should deserve 2 stars for this reason alone! The instructions are just pictures. Some of the desk parts were labeled and some weren't. All the hardware was labeled correctly. The instructions had absolutely no wording whatsoever...just pictures. Basically, you're putting this thing together by matchmaking...and what's worse, the pictures weren't exactly correct to the physical pieces. I'm the first one to be skeptical when reviews speak of difficult assembly, so take my word when I say, “if you see any reviews that speak of this they are TRUE”. Now, I could have put this desk together with no instructions, so I think it speaks volumes that even I had a hard time understanding them. So I used them as a reference only and relied on common sense instead. To say “common sense”, though, is a bit of a misnomer because not everybody has construction skills to understand how to put something like this together...and that's OK. I have experience building custom furniture, so that helped a lot. You may also need 1 helper to hold some pieces in place while screwing them in, but it's possible to do yourself. I used my son :) Certain sections of the desk should not be completely tightened right away (which is why wording in the instructions could have been very important)...like when assembling the large table top...you want the back piece to be semi loose so when you install the top you can push up on the back piece so it locks tightly in place. And there are 2 instances where you get to a section of the assembly where you realize you have to unscrew the rail guides for the right side cubby drawer. Not a big deal. You didn't do anything wrong. Just unscrew them so you can complete the next step. And possibly unscrew them again and adjust to a new hole if that right side drawer doesn't fit flush like in the picture. My advise to those less inclined is this...when putting this thing together just take your time and look at all the pieces...and STUDY the picture instructions. There are clues as to what goes where. And let common sense (in a sense) help you the rest of the way. I guarantee that once you have this sucker put together you will feel a GREAT satisfaction. And maybe for that reason alone (the sense of accomplishment) you may want to consider purchasing this desk if you REALLY like it's aesthetics. Given my experience, I had this put together in 2 hours...and for a simple desk like this it should have only taken 30-60 minutes. But I was EXTREMELY happy once I saw it in place with PC and Monitor installed. Now, here are the specs for the chair and desk combination... MY CHAIR, at it's lowest seating position from the floor to the height of the armrests, is 25 ½ inches. I believe that's about an average measurement for most chairs like this. It fits inside the desk perfectly with a 1 inch to 1 ½ inch clearance without rubbing against the bottom of the keyboard tray. THE DESK, from the floor to the bottom of the keyboard tray WITHOUT THE KEYBOARD TRAY FRONT PANEL INSTALLED, is 26 inches. WITH THE KEYBOARD TRAY FRONT PANEL INSTALLED FACING DOWN, it measures 23 ¾ inches. Most chairs may not accommodate that height, though. You could also install the keyboard tray front panel facing up to create an extra drawer for storage, but there's no back or side panels to properly keep things in place. There's an easy modification for that, but only if you have the skillset. Some of you “crafty” ones could probably come up with ideas :) If you want to keep the keyboard tray front panel off you'll have to be OK with 3 holes showing at the front of the keyboard tray (due to the lack of installing the keyboard tray front panel). But you can easily get rid of them with some wood filler. Sand it flush once it dries, then paint the exposed area your desired color. That's what I plan to do. That keyboard front panel is going in the trash, baby!