iphone marble flatlay

Background Options for Instagram Flatlays

How To's

February 11, 2016

This week it seems to be our trend to talk about social media hacks, so we’re going to continue with these helpful posts and keep the momentum going!

Today, we’re going to talk about how you can curate your Instagram feed for consistency by using different background options for your pictures. You may have noticed that flatlay photography is on the rise and the way IG account holders are using these types of images is quite creative. People have been using them in a way to solidify their brand while sharing announcements, promoting their content, or encouraging interaction with their followers. Unless you really pay attention to detail you may not have figured out the tricks to change up the background of your images. Or you may have just assumed the images were styled on a desk, and in some cases they really are. But in a lot of cases they’re actually styled on top of some kind of purposed background prop.

 

background for instagram flatlay photography

 

Here is a short list of some of the items I use for background options for Instagram flatlays.

  1. Solid white or black foam board. Hit your local office supply store to search for the boards, similar to these at Office Depot. Even craft stores like Michaels will have this in various sizes. All you need to find is a solid colored board. You’d lay your items on the board and snap pictures. If you’re lighting is right, you edit your images properly, and arrange your props creatively it’ll look like you captured them on top of a white or black desktop.
  2. Linen fabrics. Linen fabrics are so versatile and can be laid out in a way that will give your images a rustic, dramatic look or a sleek and modern look. JoAnn Fabrics is a great place to look for this!
  3. Tulle. Tulle, especially if you’re in the wedding industry, can be a magical fabric to style with! When styled properly, it can easily look like a bride’s veil draped over a chair.
  4. Gift wrapping paper. Yep! You read that right!! Sometimes you can find wrapping paper with beautiful prints that will give you a creative finishing touch.
  5. Contact paper. You can find contact paper on Amazon, at craft stores, and even inside of hardware stores like Lowes. In fact, the marble desktop you see in the image above is actually contact paper! #mindblown

 

Now that you have a few brand new ideas of what you could use for various backgrounds of your flatlay images, I want to challenge you to get creative and curate your feed to match your branding and show off your personal style! And if you found this post helpful I would love to hear from you! Please comment below to let me know what kinds of backgrounds you use for your images, and whether or not you’ve thought of using any of the suggestions above. Happy shooting!!

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