overall we are very satisfied with this purchase. the construction is very sturdy and solid, heavy-duty you might even say - definitely has the feel and heft of a quality piece of furniture, and not just a nice-looking but cheap piece of junk. it is also, however, quite nice looking (depictions are accurate). we find the design very useful - nice big surface, extra seats when needed, or extra tv tables, and of course great storage bins. though it's not inexpensive, i definitely believe it is a good value for the money. couple of negatives i feel worth mentioning: 1. i'm not convinced it's actually 'espresso' colored... it really just seems black to me, with very dark brown stitching. i havent figured out if maybe they just sent us the wrong color or if it's really just black. dont get me wrong, it still looks nice, but i'd call it black. 2. we have young children and part of the reason for getting an ottoman style coffee table was the thinking that it has nice padded edges -- this particular one however is not all that padded around the edges of the table top. while it feels like there is some padding on the table top, and of course the 4 smaller ottoman tops (and sides), the side edges of the table top seem to be just thick leather over wood, which does provide some padding, but not as much as i expected. again, not a huge drawback, but i thought it worth pointing out.