Easy DIY Food Photography Backdrop

Create this food photography backdrop for less than $10 and in 10 minutes!

Are you looking to up your food photography game? I am always on the hunt for new props and backdrops. I scour thrift stores, Home Goods, Target, IKEA, and yard sales for most of my props. But it never occurred to me to shop at the hardware store.

While doing our kitchen renovations, I came across 2×2 sheets of plywood and knew right away they were the right size for my food photography backdrops. They were just big enough for the photos and not too big to store. And the plywood is really cheap. I paid less than $4 a sheet for mine.

You don’t have to buy fancy wood (aka buy the cheapest you can find) because you are going to be covering it up. So what exactly did I do?

Easy DIY Food Photography

To get the same look as in the picture above, you will need:

• 2×2 sheet of plywood
• 4 square peel and stick vinyl tiles (you can find them in the flooring section of your local hardware store or you can buy similar ones on Amazon: black marble, white marble, wood)

Note: It is cheaper to buy your vinyl tiles at the hardware store. You can buy them by the piece. For example, the black marble tile I used was only $.68 a square. 

When choosing your vinyl tiles, try to find ones that more matte (not shiny) and don’t have a round edge. The squares with rounded edges are meant to be used with grout and will look more like tile than a seamless background.

To put your backdrop together, lay your tiles out on the board and pick a natural pattern. Try to match up the veining in the tile if possible.

Once you are happy with your pattern, peel and stick! Make sure you push the seams together tightly. Keep your boards flat and you can even lay on top of each other to apply pressure. Whatever you do, don’t stand them up for a few days! If you do, the squares may all fall off.

If you need them to adhere more, you can use a glue gun to add more glue.

I did 4 different styles for my latest backdrops and I even left one board with the natural wood.

Black Marble

White Marble

Dark Wood

Natural Wood

These food photography backdrops are super simple to make and will last a long time! The best part? You can add additional backdrops to the back side, doubling your backdrops!