When I opened the box and saw the many pieces of wood, I was a little intimidated by the thought of assembling this box but once I started to tackle it, it wasn't too bad, took me maybe about an hour. Everything did go together nicely, and the wood does seem to be actual cedar as promised. It is not a full kit though, there is no top or bottom and you do need more parts to truly use this item as is explained further in the item description.