First buy your checkers. 1.75" is an ideal size and they need to be fairly fat so that the dice don't ride up on to them. Ebay is a good source for classic baekelite checkers. Once you have your checkers, build the board around them so that they are a comfortable fit when all six points are occupied. lengthwise, it's nice to have room for both sides to have 6 men on the midpoint.
The edge of the board needs to be high enough to contain the dice when thrown, but not so high that spectators have to crane their necks to see over it!
Playing surface, so as to provide bounce and roll, is very important. I have had success with cork and also linoleum. leather is good, with a thin sheet of card enough for bounce. Have fun!

If you want to have a go at building your own backgammon board you need to remember that ornamentation is not the most important thing on the agenda. The board is created to play a game and so must be usable. You must make sure that the board is big enough to store all the pieces, yet not too heavy to carry around. The walls affect this directly; too high and they make playing difficult and the pieces loose when stored, too thick and they make the board too heavy to transport.

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