I always appreciate when people give detailed descriptions about the item, so here's my best: the wood is a little darker and the hooks/hardware is lighter than pictured. To me, it was a grainy, pale wood with black hardware. My piece is more like a medium stained (less natural wood look, but I'm O.K. with that for the price) with rustic hardware. I didn't realize the hooks would swing back and forth, but I really like that feature. It will definitely work well for what I wanted, as mine will be more decorative than functional.