I made one of these several years ago. I left one bunch the metal color and painted the others flat black. I guess I should have straightened them up a little for the picture. I was also thinking of something like flat washers to use to play checkers also. The board is a lipped wood base, big nuts for the feet, with a checkered bandanna and glass on top of that. The home improvement store guys were very curious what I was doing going through all the nut and bolt bins. Very nice job, it's not as easy as it looks!