How to Make a Wallpaper Backdrop

One of my favorite parts of my job is styling the home photo shoots. The photos are used in catalogs and for advertising. They are also the number one time when I get to imagine something and create my dreams. I love it! In June I put together a shoot at a local farm. I had pinned this image of a wallpaper backdrop that I loved (here's a link to my store display Pinterest board). Here’s what I liked about it- it incorporated wallpaper (one of my favorite mediums), it was feminine, and I could make it. But I searched everywhere for instructions on how to make it and I couldn’t, so here’s how I recreated this backdrop in case anyone else wants to recreate.

1.       I went to the closest wallpaper shop to my work (Wallpaper Warehouse for Utah locals) and brought my inspiration picture printed out. The store associate was amazingly helpful! We put together coordinating wallpaper that mimicked the inspiration. She helped me know how much to buy- I bought one double roll and two partial rolls. The rest of the wallpaper was sample pieces that she gave me (so nice! They were small pieces, but did the job). I spent around $45 on wallpaper and got seven different varieties.

2.       My biggest concern was what I would use for the backdrop? I considered wood from Home Depot first, but I knew that would be expensive and heavy. And when you are dealing with photo shoots, believe me; you move enough things that you don’t want to worry about a really heavy backdrop. Then I had foam core recommended to me- you can paint or wallpaper it, it’s light, and relatively cheap. I got a ten foot by four foot section from a local printer for $100.

3.       The huge piece of foam core was delivered to my work and the first thing I did was cut off a four foot section off the top. The best way to cut foam core is with a straight edge and an exacto knife. Mark with a pencil where you want to cut and score the line with the exacto knife. Keep consistent pressure and continue to cut deeper and deeper with the knife. Soon you will hit the back and you will have a really smooth cut.

4.       Now it’s time to wallpaper! I filled a plastic bin with water and started with the beige toile wallpaper since it covered the largest section of the board. It was pretty low pressure since the look of the backdrop is peeling wallpaper on a wall that is old and has been wallpapered multiple times. For the jagged edges, I just ripped the wallpaper before getting it wet. Then I would book the wallpaper, soak it for 15 seconds, and put it on the board. I used a wallpaper tool to push the seams down. I wasn’t perfect with this and many of the seams were popping up. But, like I said, perfection was definitely not the goal.

5.       Once the beige wallpaper was done, I kept adding other colors until I was happy with how it looked. I next did the blue wallpaper since it was the next largest section and then did the white with mini flowers. It took me about two hours to wallpaper the whole thing and clean up. I left it on the floor to dry and scheduled someone from our warehouse to pick it up and deliver it with the rest of the furniture (even with cutting it down, I was concerned it wouldn’t fit in my car).

6.       I was also concerned with how I would stand up the backdrop. I taped the piece of foam core to the back of the backdrop thinking it would do the trick, but it didn’t stick or hold up the height of the backdrop. On location, we just propped a chair that we weren’t shooting and it stood up just great. Side note, the spare piece of foam core worked great as a reflector for the photographer- bonus!

So that is how I made a wallpaper photo backdrop! Below are the professional photographs of the wallpaper in action (photographer credits on all below photos: Grant Heaton). I love how it turned out, so pretty and very shabby chic! For more photo shoot pictures that I styled, click here.