I bought the white unit to match the molding in my living room.  The shelves are one inch thick and completely finished on all visible edges, with a pattern that looks like natural wood-grain that has been painted. My son put it together and said, "Holy over-engineering!" which translates to, "Each shelf is constructed to be load-bearing."  Check the specs for weight limits, but I loaded it up with all my photo albums and it looks amazing!