DIY Cheap Rustic Flat Lay Background

Want to get your flat lays to the next level? Follow my simple tutorial to make a lovely rustic background for your crafty photos and help to make your Instagram look beautiful! If you do use this tutorial please share it with me on Instragram:
@FrankieKnitsCo

Materials Needed

1x wooden pallet

1x 50ml pot of white paint

1x sandpaper (optional)

Step 1. Get your hands on some pallet wood and some white paint.

I managed to get my pallet wood from a family friend who is a builder, however it shouldn't be hard to get your hands on some low cost / free pallet wood. Head to small local shops or building yards and ask if they have any leftover wooden pallets or check out your local online marketplace, such as gumtree or Facebook marketplace to see if anyone is giving any away!

The white paint I used for this project was a small 50ml tester pot of paint in the colour 'Whistler' by Good Home. This cost me around £1-£2 from B&Q and was the only item I actually had to purchase for this project.

Step 2. Lightly sand the main planks (optional)

I chose to lightly sand the pallet to make it more distressed as this was the aesthetic I wanted to achieve, if you do not want to do this you can skip this and all future sanding steps. 

If you do want to distress the wood slightly like I have, make sure you sand against the grain of the wood to enhance the natural grain. To do this I moved the sandpaper up and down across the plank shown in the photo. 

Step 3. Lightly paint the main planks

Use the white paint to lightly paint the main planks. When painting you really do not want to put much onto the brush as you want to have a very thin layer of paint on the wood so that the natural wood pattern can still be seen otherwise it won't have the cute rustic effect! To do this I gently dipped my brush in and then basically wiped off almost all of the paint against the side before applying to the wood. 

Step 4. Sand and paint the middle and edge beams 

As you did with the main planks, you want to lightly sand the wood against the grain and paint with only a tiny amount of paint on the brush to create the distressed, rustic aesthetic.

Step 5. Paint the remaining visible areas

Next make sure that any visible surfaces have been lightly painted, again ensuring to not coat your paintbrush with too much paint so as to allow the natural wood effect to show through. 

Step 6. Leave to dry overnight 

Now let your beautiful handiwork dry overnight! Make sure you leave it in a dry location as you don't want any unexpected rain storms ruining your hard work! 
(I'm writing this after being kept awake all night last night from an intense summer storm hence why rain is very much at the forefront of my mind!)

Step 7. Final Sanding 

Once the paint has fully dried you want to lightly sand the planks a final time to help to really show off the wood markings. If you don't want the distressed aesthetic then ignore this step but I think it really adds to the feel of it and gives it a bit more interest! 

Step 8. Staging

Finally, you want to set up your flat lay! I used some pot pourri that I got for £3 from Morrisons and a cute basket and fake plant that I got for under a tenner from Primark! All that's left is to snap some pics and find that perfect filter and you've got yourself a beautiful professional looking flat lay!