The wood was much darker than the picture shows, but luckily we were still fine with it. The ground wire does NOT have a sheath over it, and frayed while we were hanging it (but that's what you get when you pay this price). The instructions on actually mounting the light are not helpful at all. You have to thread the wires through the mounting bracket nipple, mount the bracket, then screw the chain into the nipple while twisting the wires, THEN connect the wires to your house wires, then connect the mounting plate.