My eye is very drawn to galvanized metal, with its sleek silver finish, and warm wood tones. One day I'd like to fill all the shelves with white dishes, because it seems I can never get enough of white. But for now I like the option of displaying food we use regularly in glass jars.

Time: 5 hours plus drying time
Skill level: Moderate
Cost: $150 plus wood (our wood was salvaged and free)

Materials we used:

• 5 wood shelves
• (16) 1/2-inch galvanized pipes cut to the desired length and threaded on both ends. We purchased 10-foot pipes at Home Depot; a staffer cut them into 18-inch pieces and threaded them for free.
• (8) 1/2-inch galvanized floor flanges
• (12) 1/2-inch galvanized couplings
• (4) 3-inch industrial casters
• (32) #12 3/4-inch wood screws (to attach floor flanges)
• (16) #14 3/4-inch sheet metal screws (to attach wheels)
• Wood sealer

Modification: Our unit is 80 3/4 inches high (nearly 7 feet). You could easily adjust the pipe lengths or number of shelves to make a shorter unit.

Choose and Prepare the Wood Shelves

1. Pick your wood. We used 1-inch-thick salvaged wood that was 42 inches long and 18 1/2 inches wide for our shelves. The wood we used is actually thin strips of wood glued together, which gives it a nice striated look.

Tip: You can buy wood at your local hardware store if reclaimed wood is hard to come by.

2. Sand and seal the wood to ensure a smooth finish. I sealed our shelves with Monocoat, because we had some left over from another project. However, several coats of a water-based polyurethane will work well too. You can purchase it at your local hardware store and follow the directions on the can.

3. After the shelves are dry, mark the placement of the floor flanges on the bottom shelf (photo). You will use four floor flanges on the top of the bottom shelf (one in each corner) and four more floor flanges on the underside of the top shelf. We used a painter's stirrer to measure our placement. You can use a tape measure and mark with a pencil if you prefer. You want the edges of the flanges to be about 1 inch in from the edges of the wood.

4. Mark the placement of the flanges with a pencil.

5. Now it is time to drill the pilot holes in the shelves. Stack the shelves on top of one another (bottom shelf with flange placement markings on top) and clamp them together. This is so the holes you're about to drill will line up — it's very important!

Mark the order and orientation of each shelf. Keeping them in order will assure the holes will line up.

6. Use the 1/8-inch drill bit and electric drill to drill pilot holes through the center of the flange placement marks. Be sure to drill through the first shelf and into the second.

Remove the first shelf, reclamp the shelves and continue drilling through the second and third shelves. Continue this process until all the shelves have pilot holes drilled through them. This method allows you to use a regular-length drill bit and still line up the holes.

7. Using your pilot holes as guides, grab the 7/8-inch drill bit and drill holes through the second, third and fourth shelves only. These are the only shelves that require large holes, through which the pipes go. We used the same stack-clamp method as before.

Assemble the Shelving Unit

1. Center each floor flange over the pilot holes drilled in the bottom shelf (four holes total). Use a center punch and hammer to make a small indentation where the screws should be placed. Use a cordless drill (or electric drill) and the #12 3/4-inch wood screws to attach flanges to the wood shelf.

2. Once the floor flanges on the bottom shelf are screwed in place, screw four 1/2-inch galvanized pipes into the floor flanges.

3. Screw a 1/2-inch galvanized coupler to the top of each pipe (photo). Set the next shelf on top of the couplers. Take four more pipes and put them through the holes in the shelf, and screw them into the couplers below. Use a wrench to tighten the couplers. Once you have used all 16 pipes, screw the remaining four floor flanges to the tops of the pipes.

4. You are now ready for the top shelf. Set it on top of the floor flanges, centering the pilot holes with the center of the flanges. Use a cordless drill (or electric drill) and the #12 3/4-inch wood screws to attach flanges to the wood shelf.

Attach the Wheels

Turn the unit on its side or back. Mark the desired placement of the wheels on the bottom shelf. Use the #14 3/4-inch sheet metal screws to attach the wheels.

Note: If you know you won't need to move your shelving unit, you can leave off the wheels and bottom shelf, and screw the floor flanges directly into the floor.

For added stability, use L-brackets underneath a few shelves; attach them to the wall studs.

Stand your unit upright and enjoy the result of your efforts!

Here is the finished product in my kitchen.

Your turn: Please show us your industrial-cool DIY project below.