I just completed this live edge black walnut, ash head board with his and her side tables. The wood for this piece came from a local farm of which the trees were milled on site. This is the point at which I took it from. The boards were eleven feet by about one foot. I cut them to roughly the size I was looking for and proceeded to plain and square them up. I did leave the bark on the side tables for effect. The piece comes apart into four pieces for east transport. I was going for a simple design yet functional. Once the boards were sanded and the edges broken they were finished with pure raw linseed oil many coats! The piece weighs well over one hundred pounds and turned out great. If this piece is interesting to you please call me to discuss making one for you.
M. Luebstorff 
Love the headboard, both beautiful and functional!