Review on Barnwood Wire-Brushed Drop Leaf Kitchen Cart With Wood And Stainless Steel Construction - One Size by Matt Eason

This review is for the drop leaf cart. Let me start by saying my wife and I really like the size, aesthetics and materials of this cart. It's large enough to hold a lot in its shelves, the barnwood color is pleasantly rustic, and the cart's materials are quite solid. The middle shelf that can be repositioned is nice as well. I'm sure we'll get years of use from the cart.Our unit came with cosmetic damage to the bottom shelf, inside one drawer, and a small dent on the edge of the leaf, but none of these were severe enough to warrant a warranty claim. Our unit also shipped with a protective coating on the stainless steel surfaces to keep them from being scratched in transit, which did its job.Assembly is mostly straightforward, with all required hardware and tools included. Getting all of the pieces together isn't any more difficult than your average IKEA furniture.The worst part of finishing this unit is removing the protective coating from the stainless steel surface. The adhesive is so strong and the coating is so flimsy that it tears way too easily to pull it all off in one piece. Removing it must have taken every bit as long as the rest of unpacking and assembly combined. I had to keep starting a new peel every time it ripped, which was frequent. And because this was a drop leaf cart, the hinges were screwed on over the protective coating. This made it impossible to remove the coating from under the hinges without disassembling them, which is obviously not intended for the user to do, leaving unsightly plastic ruffles stuck underneath. This wouldn't be too noticeable unless someone was really looking at the hinge area, but I definitely noticed after spending so long trying to get it all off. It's possible that there was a trick to removing the coating that I missed, but if there is, it certainly isn't in the assembly manual.I was glad the coating existed to keep the surface looking nice, but the manufacturer needs to replace it with a stronger material, or weaken the adhesive, so it comes off more easily when the user intends to remove it.The manual also doesn't tell you how to secure the leaf in the open position, but the supports are at least obvious enough to guess, once you look underneath the leaf. Speaking of those supports, they don't look particularly strong either, so definitely don't overload the leaf when it's open, but it should do just fine as a working surface.Overall, worth it, just expect some frustration getting it finished.