I built this bed from Walnut because the posts are made from single pieces and 10/4 Walnut boards are easily available in Indiana. The side, head and foot boards measure 76" x 10" x 1.5" and are made from two pieces of 8/4 Walnut each. I planed them down to 1.5" simply because the boards were getting too heavy. I truly appreciated the benefits of a good jointer and planer when working on this project. As a matter of fact, this project took longer than expected because I bought a Powermatic planer which was so heavy that I had to disassemble it and move it piece by piece into the basement, where I reassembled and adjusted it.