Excellent lamp for the price. The base is extremely heavy, so it's best to either put it together where it's going to stay or once together get down and slide the base into place. DO NOT use the post to lift or slide it into place. The post is extremely thin. It's a little thicker than a steak knife handle, which is ideal since it doesn't have this weighty looming feeling - think Snoopy vulture - hanging over you. It's also a lot taller than you expect, so unless you are 7' tall, you will not bang into it. It does need a new lamp shade. The illumination is a little funky since a lot of the light diffuses through the shade rather than reflects downwards/upwards - shade has a clever design contruction just wish it was more reflected, but not a deal breaker. One final thought, take your time putting it together, and don't force it. Thank you for coming to my TED talk. 😁