These are really beautiful shelves but they are reclaimed wood so they do vary quite a bit with knots, cracks, etc. I bought 4 of them and two of them had pretty major "distressed" areas. Not that big of a deal for me because I made those the top shelves and it's not as noticeable, especially with some decor placed on them. They also have some warping to them but it's not too bad. Drove my husband nuts when he was hanging them because he couldn't get it perfectly level due to that fact but once they were up it didn't bother me and I'm pretty picky. I took one star off for those issues because they're expensive and you don't really know what you'll get in terms of variations until you open the box. That said, the color is gorgeous (I got the dark brown ones) and consistent on all the shelves even though I purchased them at different times. Very sturdy and I love how they look in my den.