We have a lot of options for backgrounds when doing flat lays. You can use a cute rug, colorful poster board, take advantage of your wood floor or nice marble counter tops….

Oh wait…do you not have fancy marble counters?

(Neither do I)

If you do, I am super jealous. I have ugly tile counter tops in my kitchen that gross me out so bad. One of these days, I will use my side hustle income to completely update my kitchen. One day…

But seriously, a marble countertop can give such a nice clean and classy look to flat lay photos.

And guess what?!?!

You totally don’t even have to HAVE a marble countertop to get the same look. This is one of my sneaky little secrets that I recently discovered.

Faux marble background

You can actually get glossy contact paper that looks just like a marble countertop. And from a photo, you usually can’t tell it’s fake at all.

See this flat lay photo that I took…

It looks like I just arranged some items on my kitchen counter and snapped a photo.

But nope, it’s just a roll of thick contact paper that I laid out on a table.

I weigh down the edges to prevent weird bulges. Since the contact paper that I use is quite thick and I store it rolled up, it tends to push itself up. But a few items around the edges does the trick and I just make sure they are far enough from the frame that I am planning to capture.

I find this works better for accessories and smaller pieces. Although, I’m sure I could probably find some wider rolls out there.

What to look for

How should you choose which marble printed contact paper to buy?

I chose a thick paper because I didn’t want to risk it tearing while I was working with it. I also wanted it to hold up to being stored and pulled out repeatedly.

You can also look for more or less glossy papers. I went more on the glossy side, which can create some weird shine/glares if I’m not careful with my lighting. Unfortunately, that can give it away that you are using a fake background and I think it can detract from the overall photo if you don’t take care to avoid those glares. On the other hand, matte paper can look too dull.

Obviously, the color is a big factor. Do you prefer mostly white marble? Grey? Blue?

The rolls that I purchased are available on Amazon right here. I ended up buying 2 and splitting them with a friend because it was a pretty good deal.

This is a super cheap way to take your fat lay photos up a notch and it’s really fun to play around with. It’s also affordable enough to try out multiple colors of marble if you really want to shake things up.

What are your favorite backgrounds for flat lay images? Share your favorites in the comments below!