I love metal metro shelving in the kitchen. It would look great with your counter height table in the picture, too. I bought my shelving at home depot for $99 but it is probably larger than what you would need. Costco has more sizes, all for around $100. Units from both places are very sturdy.

What about building exactly what you want with pulmbers pipes and wood (painted black)

What about something like http://www.kitchensource.com/shelves/og-kl1590.htm ? I like the Expedit for size, but I'm not sure something like your toaster oven would work there and still be easily accessible...unless you have other plans for that.

Bookshelves in the kitchen are always a pain, in my experience. I really like metal metro shelving, as said above. You could also get long shelves and brackets and mount them directly to the wall- if they were in white, they would blend into the wall and make the kitchen look bigger

I would also go with something wall mounted to free up that bit of floor space, and make your kitchen look larger. Maybe something like this? http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80177702

If you can line them up with wall studs, IKEA Grundtal shelves work well. I have a few of them in a corner of my kitchen that i made into a pantry area. They also have all sort of hooks and things that you can hang from the rails. But I guess this would only work if you can put holes in the walls...

If the items shown are typical of what you need to store, my suggestion would be to purge purge purge until you can store everything elsewhere...and ditch the shelves altogether.

Put a small metal locker or other type of cabinet in the space taken up by the shelf unit. It will extend the counter with the stools and house the toaster oven. Then put shelves up on the wall above the counter. You will not believe how your space will open up.

I have metro shelving from container store, which is great, but might take up too much room (mine is in the main room of my studio apartment). I also have a baker's rack-type shelving unit from Target that I scored on Craigslist that has shelving below for storage, a faux butcher block counter space, a place to hang things on hooks and another narrow shelf above -- it is narrow enough not to take up too much floor space. LOVE IT. http://www.target.com/Bakers-Racks-Pantry-Kitchen-Dining/b?ie=UTF8&node=12959391

You really have many different options to go with for that space. You could always do something like the IKEA PS which is basically a nice looking locker, or you can do something like the Lerberg which is more open than the expedit. You may also want to do something like the melltorp which is a small sideboard. Whatever you choose please let us know!

:o)

It seems like that is way too big. I would do two things: get his omar shelf and keep it under the table http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/00069768 ($40)

and put one line of wall shelves: 2 of these: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/30094629 ($6) stained black, and 4 of these: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/80167473 ($6)

I used 3 Billy bookcase and got the half doors. I changed out all the hardware on the existing cabinets and drawers so everything matched with the hardware I put on the billies.

It won't hold microwave, and coffee maker but those are on my counter and everything else is in the Billies.

I like the built in look- I thought about the expedient bookcase w/baskets but didn't like that the shelves were fixed and couldn't be adjusted to fit my stuff.

I have the same Gorm shelving that I am using temporarily until our kitchen cabinets are finished in the spring.

I would just keep it for the moment, especially if it is a temp solution for you. The Expidit bookcase solution will not be as sturdy as what you currently have, and the metro shelving is far more expensive.

A few things you could do to make it look better/more functional:
- It is untreated and paintable, you can paint it white, black, or an accent color.

- It appears you are only using one of the X brackets against the back which is why it is wobbly, also, they need to be moved up to sit between the 2nd and 3rd shelves.

- Put the top shelf on and affix to the wall, you only need 1 bolt. This will also help stabilize the unit as well as make it look more finished. If you do not have the top shelf, you can by an additional one for $20 at IKEA, or just reposition the shelves so that there is one at the top.

-I would move it down a bit or swap with the bar counter if that is possible to make the area less crowded. The shelving would look better next to the refrigerator.

- fill it a bit more do it doesn't look as barren, you could also add a potted plant.

I like to stay away from Ikea stuff -- it's not always fgreat quality and it's not the kind of thing you keep forever -- and you can find better quality, more interesting options for less at flea markets and on craigslist. So:
if indeed you are in Pittsburgh...what about going in a different direction --
this is only $100 , and you could put the toaster on top when in use, and inside when not. The other stuff will be hidden... I love it!
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/fuo/2005353873.html
I don't normally like bakers racks but this one is kind of cool. Maybe too big, but it's a great price
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/fuo/1939979805.html
Or you could do a barrister bookcase. I have all of my bathroo storage done this way. These are way too expensive but if you look you can find them for far cheaper:
http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/fuo/2007285568.html

I have that same exact IKEA Ivar shelving unit in my kitchen, but it's the smaller one thats about half that one's width. I think that may have something to do with it; yours looks to be a bit bulky in a small space, and its placement also seems strange. For mine, I also added a lot more shelves, and a huge canvas art piece on the top shelf, making it look more bookcase-y and artsy. I think you should try to work with what you've got...try painting it, adding more shelves so it's not as "spacey," and use it to display some of your pretty dinnerware and jars and what not.

Go for an Ikea cabinet with doors, like this one:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10115562

or this:
http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/40033862

As BetterOffNow says, you can also buy doors for the very cheap Billy shelves.

Everything will look much tidier than the open shelves you have now.

I lose the floor shelving. Push the table flush to the wall where the current shelving unit is and would put wall mounted railing style shelving above the table. it would open up the kitchen and you could add and subtract shelves as needed. Also, could use expedite boxes (or similar) to hide away spices, paper towels etc

I think you might want to reconsider keeping what you have for now, but there are a lot of ways to improve on it. First, I'd either get an additional shelf that can be put in the very top holes, or I'd move the bottom shelf to the very top (You can still store things under it even if there's no shelf). Move the cross bars in the back up higher on the shelf and use a small L bracket to attach the top shelf to the wall (both will make it more sturdy). I'd also move the shelf with the toaster oven down a notch so that it lines up with the counter (it looks like one notch would be just about perfect). Then paint the whole thing either white (to make it blend in with the walls) or black (to match the table). Then I'd pick up a basket or two to hold the smaller/ugly items, do some rearranging, and add some more items (either for functional storage or decorative) so that the shelves don't look to empty. All of that could be done very cheaply, and if you still don't like it you haven't wasted much.

I have a (similar but easier version) unfinished wood bookcase from Ikea and I almost got rid of it because it was ugly. I ended up staining it and while it's still not an extremely high quality item, it looks about 4 times better than before and I've had no issues with it staying in my apartment.

+1 for IKEA's Omar shelving system.. just love the restaurant look of those ones. Although with your countertop maybe something black would work better? Expedit or wall shelves?

I'd replace the shelves as well as the existing counter with a pair of 24" deep steel wire restaurant shelves on legs that are 30" high that will fit between the fridge and the wall - then select an IKEA butcherblock to cut down to fit in the space exactly.

Then while you're at the restaurant supply store, select some steel wall shelves and mount them on the wall - and use S-Hooks to hang the kitchen items that are on your pegboard under the wall shelves - or move the pegboard to the wall between your new counter and the shelves above.

Yes, the pegboard under the window is a weird placement as is the microwave on top of the refrigerator. If you push the table in against the wall where the IKEA shelving is—is there enough room between it and the refrigerator to fit some new narrow shelving? Ideally the same height as the refrigerator. Then you can move the IKEA shelving out from behind the table, and reinforce it and prime & paint it as others suggest for even more storage. Paint it a high gloss and bright color. I would flip it over while you're at it so the bottom shelf is up further off the ground. Lastly, invest in some extension cords so you can put the small appliances more out of sight.

I have an "open pantry" I have gorilla shelves with particle board shelves. One full height, and the other half, for prepping food. But I spiced it up by painting the particle board rusty red with spray paint and a clear seal. It's an inexpensive way to give it some pizazz. Besides, when (cross your fingers) we move into a bigger place with a garage, I can put it out there for storage and it'll add some color to the space.