With limitations to visiting this year, and amidst what looks like a slow uptick of Covid cases, staying home for Chinese New Year isn’t too bad a plan. It’s also a great excuse to make your abode extra festive to make up for staying home. For extra CNY vibes, create a great photo wall or photo spot to take your family shots or OOTDS of your cute modern cheongsam. 8days.sg got a few great tips from April Kwan, Communication & Interior Design Manager at IKEA Singapore.
#1: Start off with a colour palette or theme.
If you have a colour or a specific theme in mind, it will help you to shortlist and find suitable decorative pieces to create and style the photo spot.
#2: There are no rules when it comes to which area of the house is best for a photo spot, but an empty wall is a good place to start.
According to April, you can set up a great photo area in the living room, dining area or even in the kitchen. For a family portrait shot, choose a feature wall in your home or an empty wall and style it up as a photo spot.
#3: For a great backdrop, play with textiles — they create great textures.
Says April: “Use textiles — it’s easy to change up your curtains and cushions at home, and you can use your curtains as a photo backdrop, as it helps to create added texture. Light airy curtains are great in achieving the dreamy aesthetic look while allowing natural light to come in. And who can deny that natural lighting makes your photos 100 per cent better! You can also consider using a lighting chain to create a fairy light backdrop. Textured or patterned cushions also help to add vibrancy to photos.”
#4: Set the ambience by choosing statement lighting pieces.
Be it lighting chains, table lamps or even pendant lamps, including lighting in your photos can make your family pics that much more amazing. You can also use a selfie light or ring light to increase your photo brightness.
#5: Complete the look with green plants.
Says April, “Adding greens will help to add contrast to the hard surfaces in your home, for example, the corner of your walls. Artificial cherry blossom plants or live pussy willow plants help to add a pop of colour to your photos.”
#6: For standing photos, try perching on stools.
For a standing photo, create dimension in the photo by including stools for some family members to sit on. The photo will look less formal that way. 
#7: Don’t like standing photos? Try a table setting.
“For a sitting-at-a-table type of photo, it’s the best time to style your dining table and bring out your beautiful dinnerware,” says April. “Choose softer colours so that the focal point of the photo is on the family members and not the table setting. Your table setting should match your hosting style so that it reflects your personality and style.”
Products featured are while stocks last, available from Ikea stores and https://www.ikea.com/sg.