With a total of about 20 hours of work, I finally completed my reincarnation project. There are a few residual tasks to be done to harden it up, but overall it was a great success. I spent probably $200 in materials. I adore the Velcro strips I screwed in the walls and had a fair bit of fun (though at many moments I just wanted it done).
Here you can see a decent before & after:
Before
After