Not sticky-backed at all. In fact it looks almost like packing foam, but thicker and stiffer. I like that it cushions the drawers and pull-outs where I used it. It muffles some of the noise when I put my pots and pans and glass bakeware away, and cuts down on the rattling when I open/shut those same drawers/pull-outs. It keeps my electric fry pan, my stand mixer, my food processor and its assorted parts from sliding around when I open or close their pull-outs and my cutting boards from doing the same in their drawer (not to mention protecting the wood from the mineral oil I use on my wood carving and cutting boards). I also ended up putting some pieces of CC on the bottom of my tray cab. I don't know if sliding my baking sheets and cooling racks in and out would have scraped up the cab floor or not, but my pizza stone stored in that cab surely would have, so I put pieces of CC on the cab floor on both sides of the divider. Is it a must have? That's up to you. Oh, and they do pretty much stay in place.

Positano, I have the same setup as you - 36" uppers that came with 3 shelves, so including the bottom, that's four openings. I've been using them the way the carpenter put them in, which gives me good size spaces for the first two openings, a smaller space for the third, and even less for the fourth. (Wish I could have gotten the 42" uppers - that would have made the fourth opening more usable.) It's still pretty good, though - as you go up, it's harder to reach to store things, so it's good not to stack them too high. I've been putting less-used items like serving bowls, pie dishes, trays, etc. up there. Talley_Sue, a user here who was kind enough to invite me to her home early on in my planning process to see what she had done with her kitchen, liked to have her shelves spaced closely together. She felt that stacking unlike items together because the shelves were too high was inefficient. Her kitchen was a model of efficient use of space! She should have been a systems analyst, that one! ;-)

When we first moved into our house, there was an awkward upper cabinet in a corner which I could not get into because after the door was opened, I had to reach around it to put anything it. We took the door off and stored our Fiestaware in it. I liked it so much that when we remodeled our kitchen I put it doorless upper cabinets for storing dishware and glasses. Here is a picture of the one we store our Fiestaware in now. From Kitchen

I agree with those above who have said that there is a place for everything on our shelves. My shelves stay cleaner and more organized than my old cabinets ever did in our old house. And, my husband and four children put things exactly where they go overtime without any nagging from me! This photo was taken this morning before I've emptied the dishwasher or cleaned up after my kids and husband left for the day. We use all of the items on the bottom shelf everyday. The items on the upper two shelves do get used but less frequently. This is shelf is where we keep our glasses and cups, although there are more cups (those that aren't very pretty) in the drawer below this cabinet. These are all used on a daily basis as are the creamers on the top shelf. I know you didn't ask for plate racks, but I find that this is really useful as well. We've been in this house for almost a year and I'm so glad I went with open shelving and the plate rack. I'm not sure I would ever go back to having upper cabinets or lower for that matter, I also love my drawers!