They'll look better and be easier to clean/dust if you coat them with polyurethane or shellac.

thanks, I think for looks I will polycoat them, just hated to spend another $28 bucks paying for the gallon of poly. UGH!

You will need to put at least two coats of poly on them---and they will need to be sanded to get rid of splinters before any finish is applied.

Primer and paint would be much more appropriate, and will last much longer than polyurethane.

I wish I did this BEFORE I put them up. I did sand the 2x4's though before using them to smoothen them out and remove splinters. I thought of painitng, but then when I do it woudl be harder and missed spots will show more than if I clearcoated them. I'll post a pci later of what they look like.

Prototype. You have built a prototype, just like the pro's often do. Now you know how to do it better ---and will have that knowledge for future use.

So, don't beat yourself up over mistakes or things you should have done better----if you could have done better before---you would have.

PS---I have a lot of prototypes in my shop. Lots. :)

Don't beat yourself over the head on this one!

We've all been there, done that, and got a few t-shirts. It's called "live and learn." Look at it this way, you now have all this great storage area!

Enjoy the journey.

eal51 in western CT