Double-Sided Mobile Book Display W/ Storage

Absolutely love this dual sided book display and storage solution! It is sturdy and exactly what I was looking for! I love ECR4KIDS products and have the junior little me climb and slide for those beginning gross motor functions. This purchase has made me feel confident in purchasing more of their wooden line! I was on the fence on ordering it due to the reviews mentioning trouble with assembly but it was the exact solution I was looking for that allowed for toy storage and book storage with the ability to hid the toys if needed while still offering the ability for easy access for a toddler (note: the photos are right after assembling and I just tossed the few toys I had near into it. Definitely not set up Montessori style within photos but it fits almost the whole melissa and doug 40 piece cardboard big boxes on one shelf for an idea of the amount of storage a shelf offered if needing to hide toys for company coming over!) Did I run into the "holes not lining up issue"? Yes. In the next paragraphs I am going to address that assembly issue and how to overcome it with my troubleshooting it so you can avoid this issue and feel confident with this purchase. The assembly was very easy until the last two pieces. The bottom piece with the ECR4kids logo on it uses the regular screws provided and it does not have predrilled holes for those in the units bottom piece. To help with this, simply but the allen screw into that piece following the directions to secure it, using the regular screws (not allen!) and screwdriver, do a few turns to just get a little hole to mark the area on the piece of wood you will want to pre drill the ECR4kids logo piece sits on top of. I could not find a pencil or pen that could reach and this was my method. Then unscrew the Allen screw and take that piece off. Using a drill, drill in just a little to give something for your screw to hold on to. Then reattach that logo front piece and screw in the allen screw to hold it. The piece where holes are hard to line up is the last piece you will add, A2. This one of the flat sides of the unit. The best way to avoid the hole issue is to turn the unit on it's side so the A1 side is on the floor. Place A2 into place, there are little wooden bits that will pop into the A2 side in predrilled holes. From there, screw in the allen screws but not fully/tight tight along the book display shelves starting with the middle and then working to the next one up and down the unit, leaving the top and bottom one not in just yet. Then screw the middle of the unit screw and the middle outside one (closest to the storage side). Then screw in the top and bottom. What I noticed in trying different orders were the book display holes were the ones having issues with lining up over any of the others. This is due to the construction and how the display is almost accordion-ish, meaning the most flexible. So if the top and bottom are done first, it cannot move. Screwing in the book display to A1 first from middle out allows for those pieces to be secured and lines every other hole easily! Hope this helps with assembly and helps if you are on the fence due to those reviews. It isn't the product being dysfunctional or badly made, but directions not really taking items into consideration and communicating the order needed to avoid this issue.