Many people have commented on them not liking the lip on my grill as well as seeing through it. The odd thing is that in person, the lip is not as pronounced as it seems in pictures. Not sure how or why that is.

As far as seeing through it, when the camera flashes, it picks up everything behind the grill. In person, you are hard pressed to see anything through it unless you really concentrate on it.

As far as your grill you made, I wonder if some sort of trim piece that adheres to the lip from the bumper that is exposed would look good. On mine, the bumper is scratched from the stock grill and new scratches from the mesh grill. Fortunately, when the grill is on, you cannot see any except one spot from the stock grill.