Sauder Dakota Pass Lift Top Coffee Table - Char Pine Finish | Modern Lift-Top Design for Living Room, Home Office & Small Spaces

My favourite piece. I ended up with this style (craftsman oak) because I couldn't find a coffee table in the salt oak online or locally and this was 'close enough' -but more importantly it has the lift-top I've been wanting and given the prices of these things generally, the price I got this for was totally worth it. The ONLY bad thing is, after having it set up and using it and looking at it assembled, I really like this look and feel way more than my other pieces, which are all the Sauder salt oak. WOOPS! Oh well, it is what it is, I love the salt oak but this style is even nicer! It feels and looks more natural, smooth but not shiny like the salt oak's laminate type covering.Assembly was super easy, easiest out of all the pieces I assembled this week (dresser, nightstand, headboard, tv stand) HOWEVER when it came to attach the lift top to the base, it was a challenge because I worked on it alone. 2 people obviously would be easier if people have steady hands, however I some pretty sturdy clamps with rubber grip handles on them so I clamped them to the base and used the handles to hold the lid steady while I got the screws and hinges in place -definitely use something with grip if you're going to prop/balance this because this surface is slippery despite its appearance and light texture. It probably added 10 minutes of fussing with it than it would have otherwise if I had thought to do this initially or bribed someone to come over -but sometimes that becomes a bigger hindrance than it's worth.One caution on this, okay two... 1 is, if you're working alone, get the finished base pretty much where you want the piece to sit and do the final assembly there, the piece has some weight to it and is cumbersome with that lift top. 2 is if you're going to have stuff on the table top and then lift it, that stuff better have some kind of grip or it's going to be one big slip n slide. Fortunately it was just a bottle of powerade that was closed when it launched off the table top when I went to test it. Also, there could be some additional horizontal braces to stiffen this up a bit. If you don't close / open it with your hands along the sides or evenly from the edge facing you, it's going to wobble and shimmy -I'm sure that may be a big reason this was $140ish and others I've seen are $400 plus- but for my needs, it will be fine and aesthetically, it looks awesome. It does tie well with my couch and the other pieces that are the salt oak instead of craftsman, and I'm very happy with it overall. Took about 2 hours to assemble.