Home Reviews

After reading some 100+ blender reviews I purchased this classic blender. The metal drive was certainly a deciding factor, good looks notwithstanding. But even more decisive were the claims that this is an ice crushing monster.

And guess what? It IS. I used the Oster in a side by side comparison test with the Cuisinart 7-speed Smart Blender in a ice-off. The beehive made a much more frothy pina colada. The Cuisinart had to blend longer in order to pulverise the ice, which it finally did, but it definitely struggled. The Oster immediately chewed up the ice cubes. These are both 500 watt blenders, sufficiently powerful and up the to task, but the Oster is the clear winner.

This particular Cuisinart is also chrome and very handsome and it has a very nice large glass beaker, but the Oster can't be beat for price and performance. SO..........if you're out there researching and reading about the blender wars, this is another vote of confidence for a classic machine.

This blender is excellent. It crushes ice very well & has an all-metal drive. 2 speeds is just enough. We compared it to very expensive models and it won us over with the cool retro beehive look from the 50s. We like the glass container too. It sits securely in place when blending. This model also made excellent all-fruit drink by blending ice cubes, juice, chunks of apple, orange, and pineapple and it worked just perfectly.

Tip for ice crushers: nuke cubes for 10-15 seconds & pour on top of liquid in the carafe. You will get perfect drinks every time in this blender.

We like the professional results like the professional models at a very affordable price. Can't beat it. We would recommend it to anyone.

I bought the Oster blender a few weeks ago, largely based on the reviews I read on here. It has lived up to its reputation. This blender is a powerhouse. I'm still trying to get used to blending things for a only a few seconds rather than a minute or so. The only thing I don't like about it is that it only has two speeds. After seeing this blender work, I'm not sure I really needed 7 speeds in the first place. You can't beat the price either. The cuisinart and kitchenaid blenders are $100, while this one is half the price.

When we first bought the Bunn,we loved how fast it brews.We still do,but the coffee is not hot! We have to heat even the first cup in the microwave! We have contacted Bunn,but got no reply.The coffee maker is less than a year old.Looking for something new.

I love my coffee... and because of the heavy use my coffee makers get, I've gone through a LOT of models. Some even higher priced models (like my last one - a Cuisinart) died after a year or so of use, and had several problems along the way. The Bunn is by far the best one I've found, and I'll tell you why...

First, if you don't know how the Bunn works, it's unlike any other coffee maker I've ever seen.

Other coffee makers: You pour in cold water and wait for 15 minutes while the machine *tries* to heat it to the right temperature, saturating the coffee grounds for way too long.

The Bunn: always has a pot's worth of hot water - at the perfect temperature to make coffee, stored in an internal, insulated tank. You pour in cold water(the same amount as you want of coffee to be made), close the lid (which signals to start brewing), and that cold water pushes an equal amount of already hot water through the coffee in less than 3 minutes. Then, the bunn heats your cold water while you're enjoying your fresh, perfect coffee! It's ready to go again within 15 minutes.

Some things I worried about at first:
1. Oh man - will my power bill go up because this thing is constantly heating water? No, it consumes quite little power.

2. Will my coffee taste bad because this hot water has been sitting around waiting? No - in fact, the opposite! The coffee tastes better because it was made at the correct speed - just like in comercial coffee-shop brewers.

Tip: Use Brita (or equivilant) filtered water. This really does make a big difference, and helps protect your coffee maker from build up.

Pros:
-Great coffee
-FAST coffee
-very reliable, trusted, and time-tested machine

Cons:
-No timer - but you don't really need one. Did I mention it makes coffee in less than 3 minutes? Put fresh grounds in the night before, make sure you have a full brita in the fridge, and forget you ever used a timer :)
-If I was stretching it to find a con.. well, the operating method is different than other coffee makers (closing the lid starts brewing) so you'll have to read 2 whole pages of a manual to use it ;)

I have always had a Bunn Coffeemaker. All of our families have always had Bunn's. So far as long as I can remember, we have only had wonderfull coffee when it was made in a Bunn. When we visit other's homes and we are offered coffee, it is a shame to ruin good expensive coffee when it it made in anything other than a Bunn. I belong to a coffee club and we use only gourmet coffee and it is just not the same when we even give soomeone our coffee and it is made in the OTHER coffeemakers. Needless to say we will always buy a Bunn. And never have to buy one very often. They last forever. Thank you, Theresa Jarrett

I was definitely attracted to this vac for its quietness, and yes, it is quieter than my Sears wet/dry...but, the quietness comes at a noticeable reduction in suction power. With the reduced suction power, you also find yourself cleaning the filter more often. I really miss my onboard "tool" storage for the other cleaning accessories...the Fein while compact, lightweight and well balanced is not designed to hold its own accessories, which I think is a must for any tool. I think I have already misplaced an accessory or two...On the plus side it has an excellent quality hose (though the narrow diameter limits what you can pick up with the vac)the longer length hose is welcome but is difficult to store (maybe some velcro strips...)the unit is light and very well balanced, and yes, it is quieter than your average shop vac. I won't be getting rid of my old Craftsman any time soon.

I've been using this vacuum for about two months now and am generally pleased with it. It's sufficiently powerful, very quiet, and seems generally to be well-built. It does not come with an upholstery brush or other fairly standard attachments, and because the hose size is a bit different from the standard shopvac, one cannot just go down to Home Depot and pick up attachments. Instead, it is necessary to purchase the rather expensive Fein attachment pack -- sort of a drag given the rather high price tag of the unit itself. Overall a good unit, but not perfect.

I after performing some web research on canister type vacuums I purchased the Fein wet/dry vacuum due to the low price, features, and the customer review on amazon.

My initial impressions after one use:
-The Fein vacuum is very sturdy, lots of thick/heavy-duty plastic.
-It has a nice long hose and power cord.
-The attachments, hose, and dust filter are easy to take on and off.
-The manual/instructions are a little difficult to read with some vague pictures, but has multiple languages.
-The dust bag was a little difficult to put on, the instructions were unclear, and it was a hard to get my hands on the cardboard portion of the bag to push it all the way on.
-The optional wheels were very easy to install (recommend taking the top motor portion off and flipping the bottom half).
-The suction power is comparable to the vacuums you would find at do-it-yourself car washes. Would easily vacuum up coins/marbles/nails if needed.

Overall I think that the Fein wet/day vacuum is a great value beating most other canister vacuums in the same price range with functionality and suction power.

I have three types of flooring; vinyl, sealed wood and tile. This steamer does a fantastic job on all of them. Some people note a dulling of the surface of shiny vinyl; this is true, but since I have cats and their litter box in the laundry room with the vinyl floor, cleanliness is better than shine, any day. The steamer works well on tile, very well. The floors seem to stay cleaner than if wet-mopped. I also like the fact I can wash the cover (the "magic cloth" waffle weave cloth that fits over the bottom.) Some people note that the cloths wear out; hint--don't bother to throw the washed cover in the dryer. It will fit better over the mop and last longer.

Points off for the cloths being expensive and a bit hard to find, if you want spares. And a point off for it needing refilling, at least on large expanses of floors. Other than that, this is a great way to clean and sanitize the floors. I like it a lot.

I hate to clean, especially the floors in my bathroom and kitchen. The mop, the buckets, the dragging around from room to room: yuck! But I absolutely like clean floors and can't convince any one else to do them for me. My hairdresser was using this one day on her cutting room floor and I was amazed at how clean the floor was and effortless it was to use the steamer. I shopped around for comparison, but this is the only of its kind on the market now at an affordable price. I highly recommend it and am even considering the smaller one for counters and such. It cleans both my bath and kitchen in under five minutes and they dry immediately.

I detested cleaning the kitchen floor. I have tried numerous mops and sweepers and they have all failed me. They are messy and ultimately just end up pushing dirty water around the kitchen floor. After giving up on mops, I tried the old fashioned way of scrubbing on my hands and knees. This got the floor clean, but it took forever and was hard on my knees. I would also immediately dry each section I had scrubbed with paper towels. I used an entire roll everytime I cleaned the floors. I did this for years.
About four months ago I purchased the Eureka Enviro Steamer. I was a bit skeptical, after all, clean with just water and no detergent? It looked a bit like an electric mop..I hate mops!! I decided to take leap of faith and try it anyway, after all, if I didn't like it I could always return it.
I must say it is remarkable. It gets my floor fabulously clean, even in most hard to reach spots and yes, just using water (very little water at that). You still need to thoroughly sweep your floor first, but you have to do that before washing the floor anyway. What used to take me nearly an hour and a half (kitchen, laundry room and hallway)is now done in about 20 minutes. No mess, no paper towels, no detergent, no sore knees, no wasted time. Just wonderfully clean floors!!
I have tried alot of cleaning gadgets and products and this one definately rates among the top three I still own (...). I like this steamer so much I am now looking into a handheld steamer for cleaning the bathroom, windows, blinds and upholstered furniture. I am now a steam/vapor cleaning convert and will never go back to traditional cleaing methods again.

I bought this as a christmas gift for my husband, who has complained of discomfort while driving and while at the office. while I can't make his job easier or make the road trips go faster, I thought that this back massager might help.

as a *Back Masseur*, you'll find it disatisfying. The pad vibrates and pulses, but can't do what a skillful fingers can. As far as being a device that aids in comfort and relaxation, this is certainly effective. the heat option we first considered extraneous, but then we used it on a chilly evening and changed our opinions.

the pad is well thought out for safety, too. it will automatically turn off if you haven't changed any of the options in the previous fifteen minutes.

some of the cycle and pulse options I found to be worthless--they are more distracting than relaxing.

but, all in all, it's a great pad. certainly does what I hoped it would--brings a little comfort to the road trips and office days.

if you're looking for an actual massage device, we've been using our "HoMedics PA-100 Therapist Select Percussion Action Massager"--a hand held device--and it does a pretty good job of loosening up tight muscles.

still, nothing beats a good masseur.

I had purchased this same model at Wal-Mart.com this past July for my son...and at a higher price than what Amazon is selling it for! Grr!
Now, I am purchasing yet another here at Amazon for my husband, who just has to have one too!
This massager has some powerful motors inside and targets those tense, sore areas like the backs of the thighs, lower back and shoulders.
Both husband and son are police officers, a high stress occupation, so I thought these massagers would help them while in their patrol cars as well as at home.
The massagers do fit well on vehicle bucket seats and stay in place, are easy to keep clean, and both my guys claim it has provided them with welcome relief both on and off the road.
I think this product would be ideal for anyone who spends a lot of time driving..bus driver, trucker, cop, etc. for relieving stress, relaxing at red lights as well as for home use in their favorite chair. Amazon's price makes it a bargain too!

This is a very handy massager and worth the price. If you're like me, you've probably got a couple of hand-held ones as well, and it's just so much more convenient to sit back and do nothing instead of tying yourself into contortions. Understand that the massage units in the seat are simply vibrators, nothing more, but that's standard for anything less than ten times this price. The massage units give good coverage and the hand-held control is simple and easy to use with enough cord that you can use it comfortably. The pad itself seems sturdy and fits well in most of my chairs and in my car. There is also a pressure sensor that automatically deactivates the heat for safety if the unit is not in use (being sat on).

The heat never quite gets up as warm as I'd like as quick as I'd like, and there are parts of your back that will want some more attention just because of where the massagers are located in the unit. Still, this is a fine item and a better investment, it seems to me, than some hand-held massager that costs just as much.

I recently purchased this unit with hopes of reducing dust and other particulates in my bedroom. For reference, I live in Manhattan where the air quality is sometimes not the greatest.

Summary: Great unit for the price. Super ergonomics and clear displays make this unit a winner!

Positive aspects

1. Inexpensive price. Good value for the buck compared with many other filters on the market.

2. Good ergonomics. I actually liked the fact that you can monitor filter lifespan and air quality on a clear to read LCD. You can also see if the anti-germ UV bulb is working by seeing a glow out of a darkly tinted (for safety!) window on top.

3. Easy to set up! I had this puppy up and running in under 10 minutes. Pretty foolproof installation makes this one a keeper.

4. Great filtering technology. The unit can automatically adjust to the air quality in your room. Very nice! Also, I noticed a change in the air quality within 1 hour of operation.

5. Small form factor. After all, no one wants a huge unit in their bedroom!

Some minor complaints:

1. Power cord. I wish the power cord were a bit longer so that I could have greater placement flexability. Not a big deal.

2. UV bulb. Replacing the UV germicidal bulb is tad bit expensive. Again, not a big deal.

We live in Hawaii and like many people here suffer terribly from allergies, especially when the Kona winds are blowing from the big island, bringing the dreaded "vog" (volcano smog) with them. On top of that, my husband is allergic to our two beloved cats (the cats and I decided to keep him anyway) and I was allergic to his subsequent noisy snoring, so I purchased this item. I must admit I thought it might wind up just being another gadget lying around the house, but I am very pleased to report that it is an extremely useful device that has made our sleep significantly more peaceful and restful. We keep it on automatic most of the time; it's a tad noisy at night if it kicks into high gear, so occasionally we switch it onto whisper quiet before we sleep. I'm so glad we bought it, and I'd recommend it to anyone who suffers from allergies or has pets that they don't want to banish from the house. I also like the streamlined design of the Hamilton Beach model, the others looked too heavy and obtrusive.

I looked everywhere for the best HEPA filter at a reasonable price, and after comparing models that range from $50.00 to $500.00 I selected the Hamilton Beach TrueAir.

I live in a new home, yet even with a central filtration system I noticed a lot of dust on the furniture in certain rooms. My youngest son just turned two and seemed to wake up with a lot of nasal congestion each morning no matter how often we cleaned his room.

This filter did the trick; the air must be better in his room because his nasal congestion was reduced tremendously, and on some mornings he has absolutely none at all. I immediately bought a second unit for my other son.

Many reviews here mention that the unit is noisy, but I want to clarify that it's only loud when the air quality is poor. Once the room's air is clean it quiets down automatically and stays that way as it maintains circulation of clean air. It does all of this automatically and sports a digital readout on the front that shows you the air quality in the room.

The "UV light" on the top is just an indicator (you want this feature as it shows you if the bulb is working or needs replacement). The indicator doesn't bother anyone in my family in the least at night. It really doesn't put off any more light than a digital clock radio, and even then the light is on top of the unit pointing upwards. I don't notice it at all.

I suppose if the goal was absolute pitch blackness one could easily put a small piece of masking tape across the indicator.

In any case I highly recommend the unit. I liked it enough that I bought two of them from Amazon; setup is a snap, they're lightweight but sturdy, and they've proven to me that they work by alleviating my son's nasal congestion in just one day. Not bad. :)

After reading the reviews here and elsewhere, I decided to give this humidifier a try. It lasted less than one night.

The glug-glug of air entering the water bottles is both louder and more frequent than the two other brands I've tried (Honeywell and Bionaire), and we found we couldn't use the humidifier in the bedroom. In truth, I could sleep through the noise, but my wife couldn't, so we returned it the next day.

Two other negatives: first, the unit both looks and feels like it is made of cheap, thin plastic; it's a fairly ugly addition to the bedroom.

Second, the water bottles are surprisingly awkward to fill. The bottles have very narrow openings (no more than about 1" in diameter) which greatly restricts water flow into the bottles (there has to be enough room for water to flow in and air to flow out - the only way to do this is with a slow water flow). The review that estimates 1.5 minutes per bottle to fill in the kitchen sink is probably accurate. The two other humidifiers I've used had MUCH larger openings (3" probably) so you could hold the bottle under the tap in the tub and fill a 2-3 gallon bottle in only a few seconds. Also the Vornado bottles have no cap - just an opening - so carrying a full bottle is a little more exciting than it should be.

On the other hand, except for the glug-glug, the unit is very quiet. Also, the capacity is much larger average, so if you want to humidify more than a room, this might be a good choice.

Bottom line: if you need a high-capacity humidifier AND you can tuck this one out of both sight and sound, it might be a good choice. But, for the bedroom - especially the bedroom of a light sleeper - look elsewhere.

That is to say - it's really high performance, very simply built, and has a few rough edges.
PERFORMANCE: this thing pretty much humidifies our entire 2BD/2BTH 1450 sqr. ft. apartment, although the back room never gets above 40% (we keep that door closed a lot though). It's huge 4.5 gallon tanks mean that that even with steam heat drying out the air continuously, I only need to fill the tanks once a day. The large, dual wicks mean that a LOT of air can get moisturized quickly, and the large diameter fan is fairly quiet and very effective.
BUILD: 4 parts - 2 tanks, one "oil pan" base to hold the filters, and the top fan/control unit. This makes the unit VERY easy to clean - take off the fan/control unit, and everything else can get a water and white vinegar soak.
ROUGH EDGES: This unit relies upon vacuum pressure in the tanks to regulate the amount of water admitted - no complicated valves. That leads to "GLUG GLUG GLUG" when the water in the base falls - and it is loud enough to bother most sleepers. And there are very basic, simple controls. No readouts, no remote humidity sensors...

But WHO CARES? This unit works so well that most people don't have to place it in the bedroom - simply put it in the living room or hall, and it will put out enough moisture that in 1 - 2 days the entire space will be humid. I've tested this two ways: 1) my children stopped coughing from dry air, and 2) I own a humistat that measures the relative humidity. Both indications tell me that it works over a large enough area, and all I did is place it in the front hall.

SUMMARY - a great large area humidifier with a few rough edges. Place it out of the bedroom, let the air circulate by just keeping the doors open, and it's fantastic.

We've had ours for about 3 months. It's quiet, clean, easy to fill, and very efficient. It can be filled in the kitchen sink in less than 2 minutes. No additives required. It's output is about 2 gallons a day and I haven't heard my wife complain at all about those little dry-skin cracks she used to get on her fingers. If the so-called glug-glug noise really bothers you, you need a white noise machine for sleeping.

I was pleased with the performance of the mosquito magnet but it quit working when I tried to restart it the next spring. It was still under warranty so they replaced the unit, and the new unit worked for a couple of months and then quit. I think the cordless technology is flakey. However, it did reduce the mosquito population. My experience it that it only works locally and I ended up with it on the edge of the patio. I think the plug-in cheapest one (defender) is the sensible one to buy (after spending $700+).

Don't use the Octenol cartridge for Asian Tiger Mosquitos because it repels rather than attracts them. Read and follow the placement directions.

After getting 6-15 bites by those nasty critters everytime I went into the garden and being held prisoner indoors for a few months, I decided to spend the bucks on the Defender. My husband was skeptical, but I was desperate.
Initially, it wasn't properly placed and I thought that I had made an expensive mistake. After we read the placement directions, viewed the CD and moved it to the recommended area of our yard, the Tiger mosquitos flocked to the Defender to dehydrate and die. We have won the battle with the Asian Tigers and now are using the Octenol cartridges to catch the everyday garden variety mosquitos.

We started using the Mosquito Magnet on July 1 and are very happy with the results. We still have some mosquitos and I get bitten every now and then, but I don't have to coat myself with OFF and I can enjoy a cup of coffee or a glass of wine in the garden.

Mosquito Magnet really does work -- it just takes some patience on the part of the buyer, and an understanding of mosquito reproduction cycles (already detailed in other customers' comments). When the mosquito season was revving up in June, my poor retriever got bit all up and down his back and even his tail, and became really sick from an allergic reaction to all the bites, which became horribly infected. I thought it was some awful disease, but the vet said it was mosquito bites!! I had to give him an antibiotic for ten days, and oatmeal shampoo baths to help him get better, and I was afraid to let him out for more than a few minutes because that's about how long it was taking the mosquitoes to locate him and attack. It was the same for me. I got so many bites I felt like a pincushion and even got a bad headache and slight fever for several days. Moquitoes were hanging out around the doors waiting to get in, and I felt trapped in my own house. That's when I went to Home Depot to get a "zapper," and a nice fellow who works there mentioned the Mosquito Magnet. They were sold out in almost every place that had them, but I finally located one in a Home Depot north of here, and set it up. It started catching mosquitoes right away, and I was getting one or two dozen every day. It's hard to count them, because they simply dehydrate and shrink inside the trap and look like little bits of dust with wiry legs after they dry up. By the end of the first week one side of the net was covered with them, and by the third week, my neighbor said she had noticed a decline in the mosquito population in her yard, as well. I don't really think you can measure the quality of this item by the number of mosquitoes killed -- you can only judge it in terms of whether or not you keep on getting bit. But the real benefit was after the fourth week, I was finally able to go out on my deck in back and enjoy rereshments with friends in the moonlight and throw balls for my dog without being attacked by mosquitoes. It was perfectly quiet, at last, no mosquito whine any more. I have neighbors with a forest in back of their house on one side of me, and neighbors with an enormous garden and small pond on the other side, so I was getting them from all directions. I placed the trap first on one side of the backyard, and then on the other. It only costs a few dollars a week to operate the thing, which I think is worth it, unless you like wearing DEET all over you every time you go outside, and then you still have to listen to mosquitoes buzzing all around you. I have to agree, though, with one of the other customers who wrote on here about the written instructions not being very clear. The diagrams need to show more detail and list every feature so that technologically challenged persons can figure out how to set it up and keep it going. Not all users are guys -- some of us are dumb blondes, but we pay big bucks for this thing, and we ought to get adequate instructions. I also don't like the idea of the long wait on the telephone for help, and I think the company would keep more customers if they hired a couple more people to do the telephone patrol and keep buyers happy with this expensive product. It does work, though!

Just received this item. Nice lamp but nowhere in the reviews does it mention that the product is made in France. I'll be sending mine back. With friends like this, who needs enemies.

OK... This review is for you guys and gals who are thinking about this light on the job, rather than walking dogs or camping.I got this light at Christmas and has been in semi-constant use since then doing electrical and plumbing work. The light is great for close-in work such as electrical panels, junction boxes and puting together pipe in dark areas and crawl spaces, but don't expect it to beat your Dewalt or Milwaukee flashlight. It won't light a large area, but you can use it as your only light under a house to safely navigate if you don't feel like dragging the rechargeable with you.(You just won't see the rodents and snakes until they're close!)The light is almost unnoticeable while wearing it. It is extremely small and light weight and the fully adjustable strap is padded and comfortable. It doesn't get in the way.Battery life is absolutely awesome! I've got a total of 36 on hours so far with no loss of brightness. The switch does get a a bit tight with use, as stated in another reveiw, but hasn't caused a problem so far even with the dusty conditions encountered. To protect it, I just place a piece of elec tape over the lens and switch prior to stuffing it in my tool bag.Buy it. A Good price for the light you get.

This is a great little headlamp that throws out quite a powerful beam, and has a very soft, comfortable head strap. It works well as an after-dark navigational light or as a working-around-the-campsite light. It's a tiny bit too bright for me to use comfortably as a reading light, but that may just be my thing. It's a darned compact size, and according to their literature, can give up to an amazing 150 hours of light with its three AAA batteries. The comfy adjustable strap holds the lamp in place, and there's a bit of cushy padding so that it doesn't hurt your forehead. Very functional, nothing really horribly wrong with it.

That said, however, there are some things I don't like about it. While the angle of the beam is a good one, it's not adjustable like the Black Diamond Ion is (however, it is more comfortable to wear than the Ion.) This is my main complaint, though; the batteries are a bit tricky to get changed, and there is often not a good, solid contact with the batteries and the terminals, which leads to a slightly flickering light, which I find really irritating. There are also smaller lamps to be had now, and when every inch of space is a consideration, that's important. However, that 150-hour burn time is hard to beat!

But really, the Tikka is a perfectly fine piece of equipment, and it does its job well. The folks at Backpacker magazine just loved it, so it's obviously got some good things going for it.

Arrived without a scratch or dent via UPS, despite having to be hauled up two flights of stairs by the delivery driver. Assembly was easy, but a little time consuming. I assembled the table in 15 minutes-the most difficult part of assembly was flipping the table upright. In retrospect, I should have asked someone to help me. It took me about 110 minutes to assemble everything and clean up. There were no extra pieces of hardware provided, so be careful not to lose anything.

It's very nice in appeance. I was dreading the "yellow putty," but it's really not prevalent or noticeable at all. The set is very simple, functional, and attractive-exactly what I like in furniture. It's also a nice size for serving four people, and would accomodate 5 or 6 (but likely not comfortably).

After reading the reviews of the dining set similar to this one, I was a bit nervous about what the condition of the package would be. There were a couple accounts of badly mangled packaging and marred wood, but I decided it was worth a shot. There wasn't even a dented corner on the box, and the table was in perfect condition! Assembly is fairly simple, and the whole set can be put together in an hour, with two people working on it. The only negative to the table is that where there are flaws in the wood, the recesses are filled in with a sandy yellow colored putty. It's not *too* visible, but definitely not the best camouflage. If you're a perfectionist, like I am, this might annoy you only until you remember how little you paid for the set. They did do a good job of sanding it down to a smooth finish. Target continues to be one of the best bang-for-your-buck stores!

I had been looking for a table and chair set for over a year and I happened to check out Target's selection online. I was nervous to buy the natural set online without actually seeing it in person. I ended up going to our local Target and I checked out some of the coordinating pieces. When it arrived, my husband and I were able to put it together easily within an hour and the instructions were very clear. It was quick and easy. I am very pleased with the quality of the product and what a great price. I highly recommend it!