DIY Backdrop Stand for Photography, Weddings, and Paper Flower Walls

Materials

• Four (4) 2" x 4" x 8' long studs
• Three (3) 2" x 3" x 8' long studs
• 4-6 carriage bolts (3/8" x 5" long)
• 4-6 3/8" washers
• 4-6 3/8" wingnuts
• Six (6) - 3 1/2" wide hinges (we used security door hinges)
• (Optional) Stakes or sandbags to keep your backdrop stand in place in windy conditions or unstable ground)

Tools

• A way to cut the wood (such as a handsaw or jigsaw)
• Metal square
• Tape measure
• Drill with drill bit (3/8" speedbor bit)
• Safety equipment (gloves, eye protection)
• Pliers -or- nail & hammer (to remove hinge pin)
• Pencil
• Rubber mallet

Instructions

STEP ONE: CUT AND MARK YOUR BACKDROP STAND

Gather your materials and tools.

Don't forget your six 3.5" hinges and their included screws -- these are the "secret sauce" for this breakdown wood stand.

Measure and mark two (2) 2x4 studs at their halfpoint, which should be 48".

Cut the two (2) 2x4 studs you marked in half with a saw (you can use a handsaw or a bandsaw). These two cuts are the ONLY cuts you need to make.

This leaves you with two (2) 8' long 2x4 boards and four (4) 4' long 2x4 boards, along with your three (3) 8' long 2x3 boards which did not need any cuts.

Mark 12" from the end of the two of the 4' long 2x4 boards. These are your base boards.

STEP TWO: ATTACH BASE BOARDS

Dismantle the hinges by removing the pin with pliers or a hammer and nail.

Attach one half of the dismantled hinge parallel to the marked line on your 4' long board with the included screws. Position the hinge so that the rounded slot end is against the marked line, oriented so that the screw holes are toward the longer end of the board.

Put one 8' board on top of one of your base boards, butted up against the hinge. It should be a perfect angle of 90° -- we used a square to make sure it was correct. You can do this step with your 8' board standing vertically (with a helper) or with everything laying on its side, but you must make sure this is square.

Take the other half of the hinge that was dismantled, slot it into position in the hinge on your baseboard, and mark where the hinge holes will go on your 8' board.

Attach the hinge to the 8' board with screws.

Repeat the above steps for the other base board and upright 8' board.

STEP THREE: ATTACH SUPPORT BOARDS

Take one of the other 4' boards (support board) and align it with the opposite end of the base board (on the end that extends about 36" beyond the vertical 8' board) so they are butted up against each other. Do not remove the pins on these hinges.

Attach the hinge to connect the base board and the support board with the included screws. Repeat for the other baseboard.

Dismantle one of the hinges and mount one half of the hinge on the very end of the support board. The hinge should be facing up with the other hinges.

Drill a hole with the 3/8" speedbor bit through the base board 1.5" behind the first hinge of the upright board.

Connect the upright board's hinge to the base board hinge. Match up the two hinge halves and slide the pin back through.

Swing up the hinged support piece and lay it to rest on the upright board. Once it's resting firmly on the upright board, slot the other half of the hinge and mark the screw holes on the upright board. Attach the other half of the hinge to the upright board with the included screws.

Repeat the above steps for the other support board.

STEP FOUR: PREPARE HORIZONTAL BOARDS

Remove the pins connecting the upright boards to the baseboards. Fold the baseboard and support boards closed and set aside.

Using your 3/8 drill bit, drill one hole 1.5" from the top of the upright board. Drill a second hole 1.5" above the hinge in the middle of the upright. Repeat for the other upright board.

Note: You can have more horizontal boards if you want -- these horizontal boards help prevent the DIY backdrop stand from twisting. But I only used two -- one at the bottom and one in the middle.

Using your 3/8 drill bit, drill holes 2" in from either end of your horizontal boards.

STEP FIVE: ASSEMBLE YOUR BACKDROP STAND

Note: This works best with two people. It is possible for a tall person (like Greg) to set this up alone, but it's awkward to do. It's safer and easier to have two people for assembly.

Lay out the baseboard and support assemblies flat on the ground, hinges up, spaced eight feet from one another.

Slot the upright boards' hinge halves into the baseboards and insert the pins.

Swing up the support assembly boards so that the two hinges meet and insert the pins.

Insert a carriage bolt through the bottom of the baseboard so the bolt thread is facing up on both support assemblies.

Take a 2"x3" horizontal board, and insert its ends through the bolts on either end of the stand, connecting the support assemblies. Thump the carriage bolts with a rubber mallet to recess them into the wood, which keeps the bolt from freely rotating in the frame.

Put a washer and wingnut on each of the carriage bolts, and tighten firmly. Once this is done, the stand should be freestanding.

Insert two more carriage bolts through the ends of another 2x3 horizontal board. Take this horizontal board and insert the protruding bolt ends through the holes you drilled above the upper hinges of the upright boards. Put a washer and wingnut on each of the carriage bolts, and tighten firmly.

Insert the last two carriage bolts through the ends of the last 2x3 horizontal board. Take this horizontal board and insert the protruding bolt ends through the holes you drilled at the top of the upright boards. Put a washer and wingnut on each of the carriage bolts, and tighten firmly.

And that's it -- your DIY backdrop stand is assembled.

STEP SIX: ENJOY YOUR DIY BACKDROP STAND

Your backdrop stand can be weighted down with sandbags or even a cinderblock. Or you can stake it down with rope and long railroad nails. We did not need to do this.

You can hang things from this stand -- it should be able to support at least 100 lbs., and could probably handle more than that. We used our stand to hold a paper flower wall which weighed about 66 pound and it had no problems.

For transport, you can break this backdrop stand down by removing the hinge pins where the baseboard connects with the upright boards and where it connects with the middle horizontal board (total of four hinge pins). You do not have to separate the baseboard from the supports, as they just fold down, so don't remove those hinge pins. Once everything is bundled up, you can use bungee cords or shrink wrap to keep it all together for easier transport. I recommend putting the hinge pins in a bag so you don't lose them during transport.

Notes