Whitmor 9 Cube Organizer, Espresso

Update: Go ahead and buy this unit. Just understand the quality and only attempt something that stresses it once all boards are fully assembled on a horizontal surface and screwed in. I should have known something was up when the package showed up marked as Fragile! :) I changed this review from 1 to 5 because the customer service people at Whitmor are actual humans who want to give the customer a good experience. They were understanding of my situation in this exact case and also that the instructions didn't make it clear that the thing needs to make it past step 6 (screws in the side boards) before it can be moved. In this instance, I didn't have enough space and had to move it before the critical "screws" step. The dowels are apparently just there to somewhat hold things in place till the screws anchor it all Only the vertical side boards (same material) are intended to take the distributed weight of the unit. Every force must only be straight down. For example, even with it glued, there is no chance of it withstanding a lateral force. In the end, we agreed both parties could have done better. They let me keep the somewhat mangled one and sent me a new one. I can use them for light weight storage where they won't be bumped by anything. I'm happy with the compromise. ------------ Original: —-------- The panel board needs to be much thicker and higher quality. The unit barely stands up to its own weight. The dowels provided are too short and not large enough in diameter for the task. However, the holes drilled are large enough such that there is wobble and only about 2-3mm of particle board supporting the dowels. Also, the particle board looks more like a sponge than wood. To top that off, it seems the varying position of the pre-drilled holes side-to-side on the panel boards also applies to the angle the holes are drilled. It seems they used the hole to dowel size difference to handle the horrible drilling tolerances. The unit collapsed, breaking nearly every dowel, the first time I tried to move it to put the “top” on. Re-drilling holes, and using glue to fix all the places the dowels broke through the panel boards is a nightmare. If this shelf ever gets together, it will be a slanted eyesore that can only hold about 1lb per “box”. I never expect Whitmor to be great quality, but they do tend to make it to the assembled state before falling apart.

Love it! Purchased to organize my kids play room. Good quality + easy to assemble, to swearing putting this one together :P

Quality isn’t amazing but for the price I found this sort of thing other places, I’m okay with it. I built each one in about 30-45 mins so if you’re used to building furniture or you’re good with a hammer and nails it shouldn’t be a problem to assemble the back covers. You could also just leave those off but I like it so items don’t fall backwards out of the shelf. I suggest buying some square material storage bags to complete the look and alternate boxes for a nice contrasted look

When I pulled everything out of the box I immediately had an "oh noooo, why did I buy this?" moment! The instructions said it took 2-3 people to assemble it! Wait!!! What??? ... It also stated that you had find the studs and secure it to the wall with the enclosed hardware. Ugh! I'm 75 and my 96 year old mother lives with me. This isn't gonna happen! The box was so heavy, returning it would have been more trouble than it was worth! Anyway, I opted to give it a go ... by myself! I laid the pieces on a carpeted floor and went to work ... and guess what??? ... I ASSEMBLED IT ... BY MYSELF!!! ... soooooo easy!!! I stood it up and it didn't fall apart!!! Yaaaay me!!! Since it was going against the wall in my bathroom, I didn't feel the need to attach it to the wall. It's very sturdy and doesn't rock. Looks absolutely beautiful, too!!! I couldn't be happier!!! ... I just LOVE it!!! 😀

It arrived quickly and was easy to put together. It is the perfect size for where it was to be placed in the room.