I felt it necessary to write a detailed review on this sideboard. Having read many of the other comments there are several I agree with, others I can’t say for sure other.
Overall, I’m very impressed with the final outcome and find the Tvilum sideboard sturdy, stylish and a great value for the price.
Tvilum states average assembly time as two hours with two people. I was able to do this by myself although it took me four hours. I also took my time and allowed for pre-assembly preparation. With this said, I’ll break this down to three categories: Unpacking, Preparation, and Assembly.
Unpacking – 30 Minutes: This unit arrives in three separate packages. Each is well protected with additional cardboard padding, foam and hard plastic corner guards, plastic strap ties and wrapped in heavy duty shrink wrap plastic. I was impressed Tvilum took the best possible precautions to ensure their product arrives undamaged from their factory to your door. One never knows what will happen in the journey. So if yours arrived damaged, blame one of the many carriers along the way, not Tvilum.
Unpacking also included opening up all the content boxes ensuring no damage and all pieces are accounted for.
Preparation – 45 minutes. After locating the directions, it was evident that more attention to detail was necessary. The directions lack any type of written text and the packing list is a bit extensive. So with an empty egg carton, and post it notes, I separated all the hardware into groups.
I agree with others that the paper directions are difficult to work with as they’re not stapled at the binder. I chose to download the .pdf version from the Tvilum website which and views on my tablet which helps. If you don’t have that option, I recommend you remove the packing list page as a reference, then staple or paperclip the remaining pages.
In the defense of Tvilum, I realize trying to translate directions into multiple languages could be an immense task, and still not achieve specific guidance. For me, with patience and close examination the pictures we very detailed. In my defense, I’m very mechanically inclined so I it wasn’t hard for me to figure out.
I recommend saving the long corrugated packing boards to place on your floor during assembly. Also save some of the white Styrofoam inserts to help support some of the pieces during assembly.
Assembly – 2 hours, 30 minutes:
Having all the hardware separated is like having all the pieces of a puzzle all face up and made the rest of the assembly fairly simple.
Although the directions prefer you not use a cordless drill/driver to prevent over torquing and damage, I did use a small drill driver whereas I can adjust the torque. This helps speed things up and then go back and hand tighten. As for the awl they depict, I cheated and used a tiny dill bit in my drill/driver. If you don’t have an awl, consider using the sharp point of a corkscrew, press only hard enough to make a slight indentation. The screw will do the rest. For a hammer, I used a hard rubber mallet.
I also recommend using wood glue to help secure the guide pegs and wooden pieces together. I typically use this on most furniture that requires assembly.
Following the directions it moved along and nicely. Agree that at some point, I would have been nice to have something written. Patience and attention to the detail allowed me to understand the right, left, up and down of each part. Each part is printed on the side, but not always quickly visible.
Assembly of the top drawers is of question. I’m okay using cam locks but the plastic push pins for the back side had me wondering how study this will be over time. I added some wood glue along all mating surfaces for added strength.
Again, I’m very impressed with the finished products. If you have any questions, please include here and I’ll answer the best I can.
Made with materials from well-managed forests, recycled materials, and/or other controlled wood sources.
As certified by
The Forest Stewardship Council
The Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified products contain wood-based material that is harvested using practices that better protect the environment.
