So this is the third piece that we decided to make off of Ana's site (all in a 2 week span!) The bar was definitely not hard and looks awesome (much better in person - my camera is not stellar).
I would definitely suggest investing in nice hardware. We special ordered the towel bar from Lowes. We also had a bulldog bottle opener that we attached to the side. It adds something really fun to it!
Stain all pieces separately and make sure that all sawdust is off from the sanding (using a vacuum and a tack cloth).
The piece that the towel bar is on we ended up taking off to put the towel bar on and then reattached it...just something to keep in mind.
We love this bar so much and it is a great addition to our home.
**The top does get REALLY heavy so be mindful of that.