Material is more of a tweed-like, imitation style linen. It looks fine but could be nicer and certainly doesn't match the picture. 
My other problem is that the headboard part itself isn't long enough, so unless you have a very thick mattress and box spring (we're talking, 4 feet thick here), you're going to need to put the headboard at it's lowest height level to avoid having a several-inch thick gap between your headboard and your mattress. I ordered this especially because it was supposed to be taller than other headboards and it's really not. In the main product picture, the pillows are definitely hiding this gap, making the headboard seem much taller than it really is--there is definitely a 6 inch gap between the headboard and the mattress in that picture which I think is almost fraudulently decepetive.