background Archives – A Small Life

Blogs are mostly smoke and mirrors. You’ll see this gorgeous shot of a houseplant or a DIY project, but what you won’t see is the 10 pounds of clutter hiding in the corner– just outside the shot.

Today I’m going to show you how to make a rustic photo backdrop and to hide your 10 pounds of clutter– for a photo, at least. A backdrop could be simply made from a white sheet, but I wanted something that had a little more texture. Old barn wood did just the trick. If you don’t have old wood lying around, that’s ok. You could make this from new wood, or you could prematurely age the wood.

Supplies
6, 1×6 pieces of barnwood approximately 2 feet long
1, 8 ft. 1×4
16, 1 1/4 inch drywall screws
Circular Saw
Drill
Paint Brush
Flat White Latex Interior Paint

1. Take the 1×4 and cut it into 4, 18 inch pieces.
2. Lay two 1x4s flat on the ground in an “L” shape allowing them to lay on top of each other in the corner of the “L”. (See the below photo of the box in the photo for reference.) Use the electric drill and two screws to attach them together.

3. Repeat step 2 with the two remaining 1×4’s.
4. Hold one of the “L” frames vertically and place three of the barn wood pieces on top of the bottom of the “L” to check for fitment of the pieces. make sure the “L” frame is square to the end of the barn wood. Drill one screw through each piece of the barn wood and into the base of the “L” frame. It helps to have a partner hold the “L” while drilling.
5. Repeat step 4 on the opposite end of the base using one screw to attach each barn wood board to the bottom of the other “L”.

6. Once the “L’s” are attached to the three barn wood boards that make the base of the box tip the box on it’s back and attach the last three barn wood pieces in the same way as done on the base. This will create the back of the box.

7. Now that the structure of the box is complete, use flat white latex paint and your brush to paint the surfaces that will be visible in the photographs. I did some test painting on the back of the box with a couple different washes of white and a light gray but decided to go with two coats of the flat white for my final finish.
8. Allow the paint to dry. Once dry, you have a beautiful, rustic backdrop to photograph.