The set is sturdier than I thought it would be, especially when I lifted each piece out of the box and found them all to be very light weight. Plus, theres only a small handful of bolts that are used to assemble each piece. Those two factors in mind, I was expecting it to be a little shaky when I sat on it, but I was wrong. The frame feels very sturdy.
Along that same line, when I first considered the light weight along with the faux wicker, I thought the set would look cheap once assembled but, again, I was wrong. The set looks really nice once its all set up.
The assembly wasnt too difficult, as long as you use your own tools. I could imagine losing my mind if I used the little wrench and hex key to put this entire set together. There was an bolt or two that required a little bit of flexibility to reach, but nothing too difficult. The reason I give assembly only 4 stars is because the directions dont do a good job of identifying the bolts that you need to use on a given section. Its pretty quick to figure out, but there was a part of me that was wondering if Id have to disassemble/reassemble down the line. I did not, so it was all good.
One more thing I was mostly wrong about - the backs to the chairs are short and I thought they were going to prove uncomfortable. Im 6 tall and, at my height, the short backs didnt really turn out to be an issue at all. Everyone else in the family is shorter, so no problems there. Id have to imagine if you were a tall person the short backs would have to be less supportive than they are for me and my family, but I cant say that with any certainty (because Id probably be wrong again).
My primary issue with this set is the pillows. First, the bottom ones slide around under you pretty easily and theres no way to anchor them to the base. But the real downside is the comfort. Theyre fine if youre just spending a little time on them doing whatever. But if you want to settle in and spend some time, say reading a book or maybe taking a nap, the pillows wear out, for lack of a better term, and your comfort is marginal, at best. The manufacturer or reseller or whomever is responsible for getting this product on the market should offer an upsell option for a better set of pillows. Id have definitely paid more to get pillows that were more beefy. Plus, the manufacturer should add something that anchors these to the base. That would have made this set a nearly perfect.
Overall, I think its good value for the money, maybe a little better than I expected, but the pillows need improvement.
Could use more comfortable pillows
The set is sturdier than I thought it would be, especially when I lifted each piece out of the box and found them all to be very light weight. Plus, theres only a small handful of bolts that are used to assemble each piece. Those two factors in mind, I was expecting it to be a little shaky when I sat on it, but I was wrong. The frame feels very sturdy. Along that same line, when I first considered the light weight along with the faux wicker, I thought the set would look cheap once assembled but, again, I was wrong. The set looks really nice once its all set up. The assembly wasnt too difficult, as long as you use your own tools. I could imagine losing my mind if I used the little wrench and hex key to put this entire set together. There was an bolt or two that required a little bit of flexibility to reach, but nothing too difficult. The reason I give assembly only 4 stars is because the directions dont do a good job of identifying the bolts that you need to use on a given section. Its pretty quick to figure out, but there was a part of me that was wondering if Id have to disassemble/reassemble down the line. I did not, so it was all good. One more thing I was mostly wrong about - the backs to the chairs are short and I thought they were going to prove uncomfortable. Im 6 tall and, at my height, the short backs didnt really turn out to be an issue at all. Everyone else in the family is shorter, so no problems there. Id have to imagine if you were a tall person the short backs would have to be less supportive than they are for me and my family, but I cant say that with any certainty (because Id probably be wrong again). My primary issue with this set is the pillows. First, the bottom ones slide around under you pretty easily and theres no way to anchor them to the base. But the real downside is the comfort. Theyre fine if youre just spending a little time on them doing whatever. But if you want to settle in and spend some time, say reading a book or maybe taking a nap, the pillows wear out, for lack of a better term, and your comfort is marginal, at best. The manufacturer or reseller or whomever is responsible for getting this product on the market should offer an upsell option for a better set of pillows. Id have definitely paid more to get pillows that were more beefy. Plus, the manufacturer should add something that anchors these to the base. That would have made this set a nearly perfect. Overall, I think its good value for the money, maybe a little better than I expected, but the pillows need improvement.