I'm excited to finally begin my guitar wall project after months of having to do other crap. Well I still have to do other crap but the more important stuff has been taken care of. I hope to be buying the materials starting this weekend and ordering string swings from eBay just as soon as I find a decent vendor that will give me a discount for ordering 10 hangers.

     Materials planned so far:
     - 2 sheets single ply mdf paneling/veneer - ~$20
     - 1 or 2 quarts deep red paint ~$10
     - kilz primer - already have
     - 1 quart black paint - already have
     - molding/baseboard/poplar stock for edge and latticing - $??
        - 30ft for outside(probably standard baseboard), 30ft for lattice work(probably 1/4 in" poplar stock)
     - 1 quart satin clear coat - already have

     Other expendables:
     - sand paper
     - dust masks
     - roller/brushes
     - paint trays
     - 2 ply plastic drop-cloth
     - possibly some liquid nails construction adhesive
     - painter's tape

     The whole thing will be 7.5ft sq., less than an inch thick, and probably pretty light. I plan on having the string swings' mounting screws going through the paneling into studs or anchors so I don't have to worry about unsightly screws in the  red background. I haven't measured the placement between string swings so anything that doesn't hit a stud gets 2 beefy drywall anchors. If I find drilling into the red for extra support is required(likely) I'll counter sink the heads, putty, sand, and repaint over them. I'll only use the clear on the whole thing if I can't get a good result from the red paint alone.

     Here's the full scale photoshop mock-up: