I bought this so my plants could be spread out more than they were and be closer to the window. I always intended it to be an inside shelf. I’m not sure if I like it blocking my windows the way it is but it’s fine for now. There was some operator error in the assembly of this so I don’t recommend building it while you’re tired. We’re calling it creative liberty because I’m not taking it back apart anytime soon😅 I was skeptical it was the right size unit because it was a suspiciously small box but apparently they just know witchcraft, I mean, how to pack things correctly. I thought this had 17 shelves but it is 14 with some open areas for tall or hanging plants. I just repotted my hanging plant into a floor pot so I don’t know how useful this is for hanging plants or how heavy they can be. I also missed the part where they include gloves and tools but that hammer was handy when assembling this. The instructions were mostly easy to understand and follow if you’re not half asleep and they have a helpful video you should watch before assembly and don’t say “eh, I’ve got this, it’s just simple push bars into connectors“. One step told me to build one of something and then four steps later I found out I needed two of them so why tell me to make one? I should have videoed assembling it because it was pretty funny. My kids helped and we had a good time with all our errors. I wanted the whole big plant home so I don’t know if you can only assemble some parts and not others but I feel like there were a few steps when I could have just left it the way it was and not finished. The connectors on top have some holes like I could buy another set similar to this and stack it on top but it’s already pretty tall, too much taller and I won’t be able to water the plants, let alone get the plants up there. I think it’s just for ease of assembly so you don’t have to keep track of special pieces that are only for the top row. The slats are about an inch and a half apart so no super small pots. It transferred carbon all over my hands when I was taking it out of the box so I used gloves to assemble it and so far it’s not rubbing off on the curtains but I didn’t think it would come off on my hands either. It washed right off my hands with soap and water. Some reviews said it didn’t come off their wood at all, some did, I couldn’t tell you why mine did. I had four extra pieces, one connector and one of each size bar. I have 14 plants currently on it of varying sizes and weights but it’s sturdy enough to hold it all and it’s not sagging I can definitely put more on it, I still have open spots. The shelves are big enough to fit three or four pots depending on how big they are. I have four pots on one shelf. Two small 4 inch pots, one two inch pot and one medium 6 inch pot and there is still room for more. The open slats allow for airflow and good sun exposure. I don’t water any plants in that room I bring them all to a sink and water them let them drip and then bring them back so there’s no water to see if it would damage the shelves. I don’t know what kind of wood it is, I assumed it was bamboo or something similar but I also thought it had 17 shelves so clearly I can’t be trusted to make assumptions or to look at all the pictures. I put plants where I wanted them to be and how much light they would get, not how heavy it would make one side or another and the shelf isn’t unbalanced or going to tip over, it seems sturdy. Overall I like the concept, it would have been easier to assemble if my brain was working correctly at the time but even so it was only about an hour, it looks nice, it has plenty of space, and it’s big. I would definitely buy it again. If I need another plant shelf in the future I’ll probably buy another one of these. I just hope the black stops coming off it at some point and doesn’t get on my curtains.May 17, 2023 update: can confirm this will hold a 30 pound tiny human on a shelf, plus all the plants and won’t tip over while said tiny human climbs in and out of the “great hiding spot”. Don’t recommend trying that out but you do you. I have also added more plants so almost every shelf has multiple pots I think I’m up to 24 plants on it plus still some open spaces. The bottom shelves don’t get enough light for most of my plants so keep that in mind when deciding if this works for you. Either place it so everywhere gets the light you need, get a plant light or put dark loving plants down there. Still love this so much. Great purchase.August 2023 update: y’all, I bought another one! I now have two of these and so much room for plants I need more plants 😂 I’m up to 25 plants across the two shelves and plenty of open space for more. I also got a plant light to go along with it. Few minor differences between this package and the last, these connectors actually do say “up”, I still had extra parts but I ended up needing the extra part because one of the short bars was too thin to fit into the connectors, and it really was faster to build this time probably because I’ve already done it and knew the general idea. THIS time it’s built correctly 😅 Black still came off on my hands and the gloves and it’s still packaged with witchcraft. Black is still coming off the first shelf but only when you grab it and apply pressure not just brush up against it. I moved the shelves so they’re side by side on a different wall. I’ll add pictures of the second shelf too (don’t mind the empty spaces I took this opportunity to water most of my plants). Sturdy fantastic shelves