Simpli Home Draper Solid Hardwood 64 inch x 22 inch Mid Century Modern Bookcase and Storage Unit in Teak Brown

I searched high and low for a hardwood bookcase on Amazon, being that my local furniture stores seem to not carry them. I was so happy when I stumbled upon this and I excited to receive it. One big criteria that I have with furniture, is the prop 65 warning that seems to be common with furniture nowadays. I do not want to sign up for cancer, or have my daughter have reproductive problems as a result of furniture in my home. Simpli Home, does not in any way state they have a Prop 65 warning on their furniture on Amazon or on their website. I was horrified when I open the box and lo and behold, a Prop 65 warning! I wound up having to do a whole lot more work on this piece as a result. I had to lightly sand all of the varnish off of the piece and re-finish it with gloves and mask on, off course. Thank God, I’m a Carpenter’s daughter. Now that I know, Simpli Home has Prop 65 warning on their pieces, I don’t recommend the furniture for homes that have women or reproductive women in them. It’s bad enough that we’re fighting Roe v. Wade for the second time in our lives. Much less now we have to have furniture in our home so I can kill you. What equally bothered me was the backing of this piece. It is actually stained balsa wood. Think of those little wood airplanes you would buy as a kid complete with the rubber band for the propeller. The wood was that cheap. They lined the back with this bookcase as well as the bottom of the drawer with it. I will eventually head to the lumber shop and replace those pieces. I’m not confident that the dryer can hold anything. The rest of the hardwood was OK. It’s a heavy piece. Now onto everybody’s Gripe of the warning label. I wholeheartedly respect the reason for the label. If anyone has seen the latest documentary on Netflix, entitled “Broken”, you will learn about the multitude of children’s deaths as a result of cheap furniture, the role IKEA plays in it, and the reason for the label. However, I will agree that placing it where you can see it in plain sight is sort of ridiculous. They probably couldn’t put it on the back panel of this case, because the balsa wood is so cheap. With regard to taking off the label, here is a handy trick that worked wonderfully. Mostly, everyone has Windex in their home. The glass cleaner has ammonia in it that easily breaks down glue. For about 10 minutes if you saturate the label with Windex and a paper towel, keep rubbing, and it eventually falls off pretty quickly. That’s the best fix I have. In addition, it does not ruin the finish on the piece. Hope this review helps everyone out there.

Easy to put together. The finish on the wood is beautiful. We are really happy with this product.

I like that this unit is actually wood and not particle board, engineered wood, or MDF. I like that this unit is very sturdy. I like the style of this unit and that's why I bought it. I don't like that the manufacturer placed a huge sticker on the unit that I may or may not be able to remove completely because the adhesive is very sticky. There are also other little stickers to identify each piece but most of them became hidden during assembly. A few I'll still have to remove and the adhesive used is a powerful one, so hopefully I won't mar the furniture's finish. I don't like that the manufacturer wants me to use tacky orangy looking plastic plugs to cover up the holes where the screw-cams are. Using these plugs would really cheapen the look of the unit. I spent another $13 dollars on another website to buy actual wood plugs that I will stain and use and throw the plastic ones away. I don't like that the backing pieces of the unit are these very rough to the touch thin pieces of wood--at a minimum, they should have been stained with a polyurethane stain to smooth out the finish. I will opt to not use them, as they don't add stability or improve the looks of anything. I don't like that for the money I paid, that I also had to built this unit. Luckily, I've built many similar pieces of furniture so it was just a tedious and time consuming task. Other consumers may not be that experienced and could very easily get frustrated and/or not assemble the unit correctly. Since the unit is heavy, other consumers may also accidentally injure themselves if they cannot lift it safely once it's finally built and has to be put upright.

I was really skeptical of this shelf. The price and claim of real wood seemed too good to be true. Honestly, I was kind of expecting a piece of sh**. I was pleasantly surprised. A good portion of it is real wood. The other parts are indistinguishable from the real wood and are not used in obvious places/places where real wood would be beneficial. Instructions are good. Way better than IKEA’s. Assembly was pretty easy - except 1 BIG thing, explained later. Took me less than an hour and I’m no pro. Two tips: 1. Don’t over tighten anything. You don’t have to over-torque any cam or bolts for it to be sturdy. 2. To make it a little stronger, use a little wood glue on the screws, joints,… BUT NOT on the cams. BIGGEST COMPLAINT - they put a big white and orange warning sticker on the inside, near the top. Really obvious placement. Who the heck wants to look at that?! It literally took a lot longer to get the sticker and adhesive off than it took to assemble the shelf! I peeled off the sticker inch by inch but the backing remained. Then I had to scrape that off inch by inch with my fingernail. Then you’re stuck dealing with the adhesive!! HINT #3 - do not use a chemical to remove the adhesive. It will mess up the varnish. Loop a piece of packing tape or duck tape (adhesive side out) and quickly stick it on and pull it off until the adhesive is gone. Too bad they put that dang sticker on there, otherwise I would have given them 5 stars. Aside from that it’s a good value.

I bought this bookcase a few months ago, and I have to say, assembly was super easy! …Probably because my husband did it for me. 😏 So, as far as I’m concerned, the process was effortless! It looks adorable in my office and fits perfectly in my space. The narrow design makes it ideal for storing books, games, and all the little knickknacks that needed a home. The teak finish adds a stylish touch, and it feels solid and well-made. If you’re looking for a bookshelf that’s both functional and aesthetically pleasing, this is a great choice!