This is farm style, and not a fine shelf, so a collection of Staffordshire, for example, would look ridiculous. It is smaller than it looks, but perfect for keeping track of small things. The height between shelves is adequate for those small things. Magnets stick to it. I bought it for a still room because it fit the small space. The biggest plus is that I didn't have to do any assembly - after pounding out the crimped corner due to inferior packaging, we just hung it up on the wall.