Cost break-down of foyer & other stuff :)

So yesterday, I posted the big foyer reveal but didn't really give too much detail about how much the foyer re-do cost and how to do a few things (such as the lattice work).  I was just to excited to show you the big transformation and figured I could post the details later.  Well, here they are.  Let's do the cost break-down first.

I just have to say one thing - This actually didn't cost me a PENNY because I used gift cards from my birthday (from Home Goods & a Visa gift card from Dad).  But I still want you to see how much it all came to.

• Glidden Brown Paint - $23.00
• 5 pieces of Lattice - $18.20 ($3.64 a piece for 8 feet)
• Rug from HG - $19.99
• Brown wooden art from HG - $29.00
• Lamp on table from HG - $22.00 - CLEARANCE
• White chair - $15.00 from Craigslist!
• White Paint - Free (already had)
• Table in corner - Free (already had, from Ikea though, $19.99!)
• Pillow on chair - Free (stole from guest room!)
• Other art on walls - Free (already owned)
• White shelf - Free (had 4 for the office, only used 3 - from my mom!)

Grand Total - $127.19!!!  Not to shabby :)

Ok, so here is the deal with the lattice work.  ANYONE can do it.  You just need to figure out how much you need.  5 8 feet pieces was going to be enough for me since the space I was doing it in, wasn't huge.  First, you'll need to measure how tall you want your vertical pieces to go.  Mine were 32 inches tall.  Then you need to decide how far apart you want them on the wall.  Mine were 12 inches a part.  So that came to 4 vertical pieces on each wall (=8).  So I measured them out and cut them one by one using my exacto knife and then since this lattice is foam, you can just snap it.  I usually get my sandpaper and sand the ends for a nice even look.  After you snap all of your pieces, the fun part starts.  Simply measure out the first piece on the wall and nail into place.  Continue to do that until all your vertical pieces are hung on the wall.  I put about 4 nails in each piece to make sure they stayed.  After the vertical pieces are done, you can now measure out the one long horizontal piece that goes on top of the vertical pieces.  Measure it out, snap, sand and nail.  Boom! Done!  This is what it will look like when you are done with this process:

 

There are probably some spots that need some filling with some spackle.  I needed to fill a few, seen here:

I know.  Quite a gap.  No big deal - Get your spackle out and just fill it in nice and thick.  Let it dry for a bit then go back and sand it down.  Done!  No one will ever know.  So now you are ready to paint the wall!  I went ahead and painted the boards too just to give it a little extra shine.  Also, it covers up the nails better too.  These are white nails (that I used from a previous project) so you don't really need to, but I think it does look better if it's allll painted.  Here is the end result after 2 coats:

 

Easy-Peasy! :)  The best part is, you don't need heavy machines like a saw, or a nail gun.  Now if you have those, please use them!!  It would make things A LOT easier and probably faster, but I am a DIY-ER with nothing like that!  Not yet at least...I would love my own meeter saw or Dremel saw and a nail gun, but dang, those are expensive!  We are a family on a budget folks!  You work with what you got, right? :)

Anyways, hope you enjoy this project as much as I did.  Try it at your house!  Thanks again! :)