International Concepts Mission Desk with Drawer

I've previously done a lot of Ikea unfinished furniture, but this was my first time working with raw rubberwood, and it was a kind of a pain. There were some areas on the top of the desk that would not sand smooth to match the surrounding wood, and sure enough when I applied stain it came out blotchy. A second coat of stain disguised the blotchiness, but it came out much darker than I wanted. I used General Finishes gel stain in the "Candlelite" color; I'm not sure a non-gel stain would have worked better, but maybe a pre-stain conditioner or base coat in a lighter color would have helped. Anyway, I can live with it as-is.I also had a little trouble putting it together because one of the barrel nuts for attaching the legs was defective and would not thread on any of the bolts. Rather than wait for the manufacturer to ship a replacement, I got a new nut and matching bolt from the hardware store.I hacked my desk to have a keyboard tray instead of a pencil drawer; since rubberwood boards or panels seem unavailable in the US, I used a piece of oak plywood mounted on the drawer slides that came with the desk.Overall, it is a nice-looking desk and seems sturdy enough. I wanted something suitable for use as a secondary workspace in my living room, that didn't take up a lot of room,and looked like a piece of living room furniture rather than a home office when it wasn't being used as one.

I love international concepts. I have several pieces. I wanted a table the dogs crate would fit under and this worked!

I love that this desk is solid wood! Very easy to put together as well. The drawer glides well and is a nice size. The only thing we did was add one clear protective coat of paint and it was good to go. I would imagine you don’t even need to add the clear coat but our kids are using it and it makes marks from pencils/pens/markers easier.

Very nice unit - heavy and nicely sanded right out of the box - accepted stains and finishes without any problem (I was cautious about that - it's made from rubber tree wood, with some cautions.) It's very easy to assemble - I used glue and screws. This unit is not going anywhere - it's solid. Infinitely better than the particle board and MDF units. It's all REAL wood and will last forever. No veneers. I tried a few different color stains on the unseen bottom, then let her rip with Cherry. Then three coats of Minwax water based semi-gloss varnish. Fast dry and easy re-coat. Looks terrific and I'm giving it hard use every day.A really nice, solid, well-made unit at a great price. Very pleased.P.S. Because I didn't have a lot of $$$ invested in this, I modified it quite a bit, including adding two cherry shelves underneath. They turned out great as well.

Great quality , easy to stain/assemble, and sturdy. Packaged very well. Already bought 3 pieces and looking to buy more

I bought this desk for my daughter's room. It worked out perfectly. She has had it for about two months now and loves it. It is sturdy, and we have had no problems with it. It took two people to put it together, but you could probably get away with having one person. It just made it more comfortable with having two. I had to do some light sanding before painting the desk and stain it, which made less work. I have painted and stained several types of furniture in our home. This desk was the most straightforward project I have done. I was delighted with how the desk turned out, and so was my daughter.

Wasn’t as deep as expected. Had to modify with glass in order to make it deep enough to use as desk.

As another reviewer noted this unit is very narrow (18"-wide) and rather short for the intended purpose of being a desk. A laptop and a table lamp utilize most of the available surface area. I will be mounting a piece of flat wood about 4" wider and a foot longer on top of this, using it as a base. Some extra work, but OK for the price. Finishing this type of rubber tree wood (parawood) is a pain. The wood blotches easily and must be sealed, making the final staining more difficult when going for a darker color. If I was to do it over again 'd use a gel stain, rather than the oil-based. So, for an inexpensive desk it is OK, better than the units made of manufactured wood. I wish a larger unit was available, but my fix will solve the problem for me.