Here's the closet in question for reference. Remember the attic access is in the ceiling of this closet, and the back of it is the basement steps, that's why it's angled.

Interesting closet. Is the rest of the house as interesting?

Would replacing the existing shelves with new laminated shelving be too big a project? You can buy 10" wide shelving rather inexpensively at home improvement stores. With measurements on hand, you could probably even get them to cut them for a few bucks more, if you don't have the means to do that yourself.

I used wall paper as shelf liner throughout our house. It's held up very well, the flip side being that it doesn't come off very easily when you want it to! I would probably do it again though- after 15 years most of it still looks in great shape.

I painted raw wood shelving in white latex, high gloss. Effective at protecting against splinters. If your taste is towards natural wood, i guess you could paint them with clear marine varnish for same level of protection. You paint once and never again. Paper tears or if decorative, dates your house after a while.

Most of the rest of the house is pretty standard 1959 construction - it was all original, windows, doors, floors.. the entire house is plaster, not drywall, so those swirlies you see on the walls exist on every wall and ceiling :) They're actually texture in the plaster. We did have someone come in and skim coat the kitchen, living room and hallway - but we decided not to do the bedrooms at this time because of the $$. We just purchased the house and completely gutted the kitchen and bathroom and had to replumb the entire house, so new shelving isn't in the budget just yet.

Sand them and paint them with a couple of coats of gloss enamel ... or clean them well and apply self-stick vinyl tiles. They last a lot longer than adhesive shelf paper.

I'd sand and paint them - easy to do. Then, if you still prefer shelf liner, use plain old paper liner or a leftover roll of wallpaper. DO NOT use contact paper! It will become gooey and will be the devil to get off some day. The stuff should be banned!

Thanks for the suggestions! I'm glad people are weighing in on not using the adhesive stuff, that's what I wanted to hear :) The other issue is that each board will need to be covered individually because if we need to get into the attic it's likely we'll need to remove some boards and contents to be able to get to the ceiling. There's no dropdown ladder or anything, just a giant hole that we had to cover ourselves with a board.

If they are loose-laid, remove them and paint them, paint the closet separately, and drop them back into place.

To keep them from slipping forward, nail a small cleat of wood on the support boards before you paint.

I'm w/ bossyvossy: Paint them. High-gloss, tough paint, a few coats, will make them dustable (don't forget that!) and washable.

I did once cover a piece of low-grade plywood (so, not sanded, etc.) with vinyl contact paper. I had a rental apt. and a pantry cabinet w/ no doors; too short to be a broom cabinet. I didn't want the mess of painting, but I wanted them washable. It was fine. The adhesive sort of mostly stuck to the wood, but it was really held in place by overlapping and sticking to itself.
The one worry I had (since this was a NYC apt) was that the inevitable gaps might provide a nesting place for bugs. So I did my best to overlap and seal so they couldn't get inside. In the 4 years I lived there, it wasn't a problem.

But if I'd had a garage or basement (i.e., room to work and make a mess), I'd have painted them.

Since you want the coating to be durable, I'd say don't rush it--sand lightly, wipe well (I found that a miracle cloth worked as well as a wax-infused tack cloth), prime, and let dry between coats. Try to go for more coats that dry quickly, so that stuff is less likely to stick to the shelves. So: use a foam brush, which doesn't transfer as much paint; maybe thin the paint a little (do some research), so it'll dry rapidly all the way to the bottom.

And then I'd use the liners ALSO (though, if your paint isn't thoroughly dried, they might stick to the paint; hence the notes above about the thinner coats, etc.).

The biggest reason I think you should paint is that it'll look fresh instead of old.

And you know what? Paint them a happy color! They don't have to be white.

If you paint, do a little research on finding a paint that won't have stuff sticking to it.

Folks on this conversation suggested different kinds, including melamine paint, oil enamel, or a final coating of polyurethane (not sure if that restricts what type of paint you use).
http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/good-questions-138-107803

Similar tips here, including the idea of applying a coating of paste wax!
http://garages.about.com/od/shelvingstoragebasics/ht/StickyShelves.htm

And this guy echoes my idea of not doing thick coats (more coats, thinner coats, and yes, more time--but less hassle later)
http://www.uexpress.com/first-aid-for-the-ailing-house/2013/10/14/allow-latex-paint-to-cure-fully

And I second the idea of those clear ribbed liners.

One thing I did when I put mine in was to think about what direction I wanted the ribs to go in.

On the shelves I thought I'd wash down more often (oils, spices, etc.), I had the ribs run front-to-back, so I could wipe any debris (spices) or liquid (soap to cut the grease) off the front end of the shelf without dismantling everything.

I put the ribs going front-to-back under the glasses as well, so I could slide them more easily. Under the plates, it goes side-to-side.

If you have a shelf that's a bit lower in front or back, make the ribs go sideways so they'll stop drips from running off the front or pooling at the back of the shelf.

ooh, I just saw the self-stick vinyl tiles ideas. I agree; they're really durable.

I don't know if they'll stick to paint or polyurethane, but I'd suggest you sand down the boards anyway, to spiff them up a bit and make them look "cared for," and coat them with something if it won't interfere.

Also--polyurethane is pretty durable. So that's an idea. It's clear, so you'd see the wood; or you can tint the polyurethane with the same pigments as paint, so it's semi-transparent. Or you can wallpaper the shelves to pretty them up, and then apply poly over the wallpaper.

But the simplest is probably paint. (in a color, in a color!)

Oh, and those side walls can hold small things--like shoe pockets, or spice-rack-size shelves.

Also, because the shelves are inset so far, that's a great spot for back-of-door shelves for the stuff you use mostestest of all.

I've used vinyl wallpaper on shelving -- try to get one without the adhesive on the back.. You can use thumbtacks in the 4 corners to keep it in place (or a few more, depending on the size of the shelf) or just cut to size.

I've used/"inherited" a variety of liners. Vinyl wallpaper works well (I found leftover in the house and used that), the ribbed liners, white or clear, also work well. And we "inherited" vinyl floor runners on the utility shelves! Seriously, that stuff is durable since it's designed to be walked on. We painted the garage shelves and they are holding up okay.

Thanks for everyone's comments. We decided to go with a high-gloss porch and floor paint for the shelves, we just bought the paint over the weekend (and got the interior of the closet painted). Hubby won out on the color, so it's just grey, nothing fun. I also bought an over the door shoe organizer to hang on the back of the door to hold small stuff!

Thanks for the update! Sorry about the gray. One of the Behr floor paints comes in some lovely colors, too!

But it'll be really durable, I bet. And easy to wipe down.

That shoe organizer will be helpful.

If you decided you wanted to try to use the side walls, but you need to be able to take everything off the wall to pull the stairs down, you could use Command hooks to hang shoe pockets on the wall too. (I cut shoe pockets down to all sorts of custom sizes.)

(I say Command hooks because you can easily lift the hook off the self-stick part, so it would be out of the way)

The Command brand also has wall-mounted spice racks and other small wall-mounted baskets/bins. I bought some from their bathroom line. Those would also lift off out of the way.

We love Command hooks! We even bought them to hang the organizer because we don't like the look of the over the door pieces sticking out and we can't bear to put holes in brand new oak doors! I think I'll be able to start painting the shelves this evening, so hopefully I can get this done over the weekend.

So, here's the latest view of the closet. I'm still painting the shelves. I only have room to paint 2-3 at a time and I can only do 1 coat a day, so it's taking a while. This view includes the new door and trim (that also need finished as soon as the shelves are done). It looks much cleaner, but the grey is much darker than DH thought it would be. Not darker than I thought - just darker than he thought :)

Also - @talley_sue_nyc - unfortunately there are no stairs to pull down for attic access. You have to climb the cleats on the side of the wall (or step on the shelves if you're not too heavy), push the access panel over to the side and pull yourself up!