The pieces of wood that came at the shelves, had chips and nicks in them. There is only one side on each shelf that has been shellacked/treated. So, we had to put the shelves right side down so it looked OK when you were looking at the shelves. And you have to be quite tall to see that the other side is unfinished and dull. The cast aluminum it’s pretty sturdy and that part I like. Otherwise, the shelves are cheap and one of them even came pretty scratched.