This is everything I was looking for in an Aquarium stand -
The gray is lighter than pictured, and has a tan/green tone to it.
Not totally visible in the pictures, but the outer frame is metal, and it's absolutely designed to carry weight thru the metal to the ground, including to the extra center feet, which spread the load.
The cabinet door is reversible, so if you don't like the country-barn looking decorative element, that can be faced to the inside, giving it a clean flat-panel modern look.
Super sturdy feel and well designed for weight bearing - when building stands for my fish room, I always am ready to add additional L brackets to shore things up - didn't feel I had to with this stand!
The top raised shelf is very much optional - it just bolts onto the back of the frame and is an entirely separate assembly. After building mine, decided I didn't like the shelf, and it took like 3 minutes to remove it.
Impressed with it for the price, well manufactured, well designed, well packed, all the pieces lined up and was simple to put together. I actually came back to buy 2 more, but it was unfortunately out of stock, and has been for some time =(
