I love the look of this headboard- it is pretty tall, but allows me to vertically place some European shams and it makes the bed look really cool because it is even higher than the shams- you would not be able to put a large picture above it though- it would look awkward, and I have 9' ceilings.  All the hardware was included (bolts, nuts, and washers and the allen wrenches to fit), I did have to make a trip to the hardware store for more because the bolts were too wide to fit into the slots on the bed frame (note: my bed frame is from the 70's).