Description
This unique, contemporary style desk and shelf unit offers the ideal combination for your home office. Finished on all sides in an elegant Cappuccino, The thick paneled desk features an easy glide pull-out keyboard tray and ample side storage space which can be positioned to the left or right of the desk allowing you to customize your space as needed. The convenient attached bookcase with adjustable shelving provides plenty of space to store books, paperwork, or decorative objects. A versatile design piece to place anywhere in your home and office space.
B –
Details for Putting It TogetherSo, for those that are familiar with these packaged furniture kits which you construct with wooden dowels and screws, the provided pictures are self explainatory. However, in going along I realized there are steps/knowledge not everyone may have. So I am leaving one of my rare reviews in hopes of helping someone or at least give you the confidence you can do this! This is well packaged with all pieces laying flat, snugly together with protective foam in between. The heavy cardboard box has strong edge pieces to protect it during transit. Even so, one of our pieces has a small chip in the laminate on one of the corners (1/2″ x 1/2″) We’re keeping it for now in hopes that is one of the hidden corners that won’t show. This is very heavy and must have been truck shipped (it was left at our door so I don’t know how it arrived). I do see they’ve now increased the price $35 so maybe that’s to pay for their “free” shipping. I paid a third over $200 for it. By the way, the only hollow pieces are the long side walls and wide desk top and side. All the shelves and supports are solid and HEAVY (total listed as over 100 lbs). So first step: unpack all pieces, examine for damage and compare them to the parts lists, ensuring you have them all. For those unfamilar, in today’s world assembly instructions have been simplified to a series of pictures, the international language. Please study carefully before beginning! I keep seeing details I’ve missed as every little nuance is implied with a single picture. But all steps are included, from the top down, all 6 pages. My first pics show how I unpacked and laid out the project. Next to the instructions are the extra pieces I have so far. (But I used them all by the end) Speaking of mistakes, the wooden dowels are meant to go in half length on one piece of wood and half length in the connecting piece. The screws hold the pieces together structurally, but the dowels tighten everything up, making it snug and secure. The pictures are not clear on this.So, put glue either in the hole or all the way around 1/2 of the dowel and push it in only halfway! They show using a rubber mallet to pound them in but just tap carefully in with the mallet. Also, one thing I really like is their consistency. Whenever a dowel goes into just one of a pair of holes, they always have the dowel go in the inside hole, toward the middle. This is important. And even while I told myself this each time, I still put 3 in the wrong holes! Try to find these mistakes before the glue dries or it becomes harder to pull out. I did use all of the extras. The rest went together without a hitch. You must select a set of holes in the desk top depending if you want it on the left or right side. We did extend it like others have recommended and it’s working wonderfully in our 17 yr old daughter’s room. Looks great and just the size she needed for her small corner. It’s constructed well and solid. Just be sure to glue every hole the dowels go in so they set right, keeping it stable. The screws and counter set locking bolts are hefty and all holes matched up nicely.
Hamish –
Looks stylish, has ample organizational space, but feels cheap and has a tiny work areaFirst, let me say that this desk is pretty stylish. After a very easy construction, the final product looks great. There is ample space for organization. Personally, I threw a few baskets in the spaces up top to hold random items and trinkets (such as ink for my printer), a filing bin below for papers, and filled the rest up with books and decorative items. It can fit a lot in a tiny space, so if you have a small space you need to fill with a desk, this will probably do wonders for you. Overall, it just looks great.Now, the bad. The actual desk itself doesn’t leave a lot of room to work with. There’s not a lot of actual desk space – it was far too small to hold my laptop and a second monitor, and sometimes I feel like it’s too small for even just my 15″ laptop. I know everyone works a little bit differently, but personally I need the larger desk area. I like to have printed reports on hand, a notepad in the other, and generally just a lot of room to breathe. This won’t be a problem for a lot of people, but I’m sure many others will be annoyed. Just something to keep in mind if you like to spread out your work.Second, the actual material itself is just cheap particle board. I’ve seen horror stories where people have received this desk with big scratches and punctured pieces. Luckily, my set arrived in fairly good condition, but the edges were a little scraped up and there were a few small dings here and there. I had to touch it up with one of those mini varnish touch up wood pens, but it wasn’t bad enough for me to call up the company to demand an exchange. Also, be careful with drinks – the cheaper particle board bubbled up when I left a cold soda on it, and now there are a few bubbles all over the top. This is definitely my fault though, as this is to be expected with material like this, but be sure to use a coaster.
The Princess and the Pea 🌹 –
Worked well for small space, with adjustments.Assembly was very easy, as long as you pay attention to ALL the directions. Holes were well aligned, all hardware was present and directions were easy to understand. Desk was also packed very well. However, packaged unit is very heavy. I unpacked outside and brought the unit in piece by piece, with the additional benefit of the Styrofoam mess being left outside!As some other reviewers, I made some adjustments to the unit.1. I added 28 inch solid pine Parsons legs to the desk, attached with leg mounting plates (ASIN: B07JM9L52C) rather than attaching the desk directly to the bookcase. Because the area is very tight were I placed the unit, I gained 6 inches of chair space, since I can now push the desk as far back against the wall as possible. I much prefer the desk separated from the unit. All space can now be utilized.2. Because the unit cannot sit flush against the wall, because of the floor molding, I added a two pieces of 40″ x30″ heavy white cardboard backing to the unit, as well. This should be included, by default, from the manufacturer, since not only does it prevent items from falling through, it adds stability to the unit.3. I added a 1 inch corner strip (L-shaped) to the back of the desk, on top of a 20″ x 36″ Polycarbonate desk protector (ASIN: B00P858L8U). I drilled the holes in the corner strip first, placed the desk protector on top of the desk, positioned, marked strip holes on the desk protector, drilled holes through desk protector and desk, then hand-screwed the corner strip to the top of the protector.Very satisfied with the overall outcome of the unit. Miss my old desk, but I think I am falling in love with this one! 🙂
shopgirl –
Best purchase I’ve made in a long timeBest purchase I’ve made in a long time! I couldn’t be more thrilled with this desk. It fits my space perfectly. Plenty of shelf space for storage. I took the tip from one of the other reviewers, and attached the desk to the edge of the bookcase, giving me an extra 9″. End result is much more leg room, as well as more storage space on the desk itself. I have a laptop, so there’s plenty of room for it on the desk. There’s no way I could’ve put this together on my own. It weighs literally 100 lbs. Luckily I was home when FedEx delivered it. He didn’t even ring my doorbell; just tried to leave it on the front porch! Luckily I saw him & had him carry it in before he left. I have a friend who loves putting things like this together. It’s actually fun for him, and he had the desk completely assembled in 1 hour, 15 minutes (& barely looked at the instructions!) It’s very sturdy, it wasn’t packed in bubble wrap, but there are no scratches or anything on any of the pieces. It arrived in perfect condition. Shop around; I read some reviews complaining about price. I checked Target, Wayfair, and 3 or 4 other sites that all carry this desk. Amazon was by far the lowest price at $220. I already had 2 white bookcases, so this Monarch White desk is exactly what I needed; it looks like all of the pieces were bought together & planned out this way, when in reality, I’ve had the bookcases for 8+ years. I also read a bunch of reviews that this is a kids desk. I’m a grown adult, and this desk is perfect for my needs. The measurements on the website are accurate, so while it may look bigger in the pictures, if you measure it out, you won’t be surprised or let down when it’s all assembled. I have a small 2nd bedroom that I’m using as an office, and this desk is the perfect size. I’m still waiting for my chair to be delivered, but until then, I’m making due with a bench. I don’t regret my decision to buy this desk at all. Highly recommend!
Lee Ann Brooks –
Exactly What I Neededi knew from stated measurements that the desk was going to be the perfect layout and size, but was a little concerned after reading some of the reviews. After all, it’s pretty inexpensive. I needed help getting it in the house as the box was taller than me and the weight right at 100 lbs. With help from a friend we got it inside and put together in less than two hours. Assembly was not difficult. All of the parts were there, including the glue for dowel holes. The bookshelf is very sturdy, no wobbling at all. I attached the desk part at the outside of the shelf and only used one screw. It will move if I push it, but that’s on me. I’m very pleased. Maybe just be aware that you’ll have to pick the shelf up off the floor to set it into place and if you’re a smaller person it might be difficult without help.
VictoriaR –
Very easy to put together and exactly what I was looking for.I just put this together last night. It was probably one of the easiest pieces of furniture I’ve ever put together, and I’ve done a lot. The instructions were very easy to follow, which is saying something since they were in Spanish and I cannot read even a little bit of Spanish. The pictures were great though and I liked the order in which they had you install things, very logical and made things easier down the road. Overall it maybe took me an hour and half to put together by myself, and that’s with cleaning up all of the styrofoam that inevitably got everywhere. I plan on using it as a vanity to do my hair and makeup. For the price, it seems very sturdy and well made.
Michael Bell –
It fit perfectly in the corner that I needed it in!It took a little longer then I thought it would to receive it, which is why I gave it 4 stars. But otherwise it is sturdy, it was fairly easy to put together, it did take 2 of us to do it. And it is best to determine before hand what side you want the desk on before you finish putting it together. We had to undo a couple of times because we had to do the other side of what the directions were. But it is great and works well!
Bonnie in Gualala –
Only one problemI really like this desk/bookcase, it was just what I wanted for the space. Luckily I did not need the shelves on the outer two upper sections as the holes are not lined up. The middle section is fine but when I tried to put shelves in the outer sections they were not straight. I did put this together myself and I love the color, taupe. I am a 5’2″ female and the desk height is fine for me.
RT –
Comes from Canada, takes forever!This product arrived with a damaged board, so we had to wait for a replacement from Canada! Originally it took almost 2 weeks to receive, then another 6 days for the replacement piece. Customer service was very nice and easy to deal with, but the wait time was frustrating!Once the desk is on, the unit feels stable. But the bookshelf by itself did not feel super sturdy.
SBorham –
Not for adults, this is a kids deskIt looks great, I put it together, not in a couple of hours like another review mentioned though, it took me 4 hours. It looks neat, It took up a lot of our stuff, did not take alot of space, fits perfectly in a corner. I got this for my husband (with a plan B that if he didnt like it that I would put it in my son’s room, and that’s excatly what I’m planning to do since it’s too narrow for my husband (he’s having second thoughts though so we’ll see).By the time I was 80% done, i discovered that one of the shelves had scratches,I could have contacted Amazon which would have helped me ofcourse, but I contacted the manufacturer Monarch, they gave me a call the next day and their customer service is amazing too, they are shipping that part to me.. perfect.At some point in the assembly instruction ( I think at step 5 or 6 just make sure you are following the steps for the right direction you want the desk to be facing.)End result; I would have still bought it. I love it.