I purchased two of these benches, not really expecting much, but hopeful that the reviews were honest. When they arrived today, I immediately opened the first box, expecting a mess of parts and hard-to-understand directions. To my great surprise, you basically put together 2 boxes with a few screws, set the bench atop the boxes (no further attaching system needed) and you're done. It's not a stretch to say that assembly can be done in half an hour. I partnered up, and it made the process a breeze. The only thing I'm still unclear about is which way the bench is supposed to sit. There are two directions that it can attach to the planters, either with the bench resting on the narrower space, making the seat higher, but without gaps between the bench and the back, top edge of the planter; or with the bench resting on the wider space, which leaves a gap between the bench and the back, top edge of the planter, which makes the seat a smidge lower. It's probably personal preference, but we'll try it both ways and see which works best. Time will tell how well these hold up, but at about $76 at the time of this review (I paid $71 on prime day), I don't think I could build these for cheaper, and they're very cute. They feel sturdy when sitting on them, but as others have mentioned, they really only comfortably seat one person. They CAN fit 2, provided you're reasonably narrow-hipped, you don't mind touching each other while seated and you don't intend to sprawl at all. Probably great for a couple small children to sit with each other. Others have also mentioned that the planters don't have bottoms. That's correct. I wouldn't want to plant directly in these anyway, so get a couple decorative potted plants, put a box or an overturned pot inside the bottom of each planter, and set your decorative pots atop those. Easy peasy. I'll be keeping an eye out for the price to drop again (I know, what's $5 though...) so I can purchase one more of these for my backyard to flank my pergola, as another user did. Buy these! The value for the dollar is definitely there and you just can't beat the price and ease of assembly.
