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Jazz up Your Next Video Call With These Seattle-Themed Backgrounds
From Husky pride to colorful illustrations, hide your laundry pile in style
Seattleites are finding creative ways to offset the monotony of isolation. Some have taken to slightly lengthening each of their daily tasks—adding ten minutes to showers, trading rushed bowls of cereal for elaborate breakfasts—while many of those working from home are embracing video conferencing shenanigans like Rickrolls and special appearances from pets. Another option for adding a little levity to those virtual meetings: customizable video call backgrounds. Here are our picks for free, Seattle-themed Zoom backgrounds to help make your next meeting a little more fun for everyone involved.
Show Some School Pride
Whether a current student or a nostalgic alum, the University of Washington and Seattle University have got you covered with high-quality images of their campuses, gorgeous views and one adorable canine mascot.
Upgrade Your Living Room
Local illustrator Pam Wishbow has created a series of eight colorful backgrounds showcasing mid-century furniture, plants and other cozy home decor elements. Download and use for free, but tip the artist if you’re able.
Enjoy the View
Columbia Center is closed, but you can enjoy breathtaking city views from Seattle’s tallest building without leaving the comfort of your home, thanks to Sky View Observatory’s virtual backgrounds.
Break Out the Jersey
Soccer season is postponed, but that doesn’t mean you can’t get in the competitive spirit. The Sounders FC has created backgrounds with images of the stadium, players, and fans to help you show your coworkers where your allegiances lie.
Celebrate Seattle’s Charm
Visit Seattle has shared backgrounds based on Seattle’s most famous landmarks, including the Fremont Troll, Pike Place Market and SODO’s Ken Griffey Jr. mural.
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5 Tips for Finding a Best-Fit College
A national leader in college counseling shares search advice
With nearly 3,000 four-year colleges and universities in the United States, how do you find the ones that suit your child academically, socially, culturally, and financially? In the College Counseling Office at UPrep, a 6–12 private school in Northeast Seattle, we remind students that finding the best-fit college is a match to be made, not…
After Ballet, Lucien Postlewaite’s Next Act
After nearly two decades at Pacific Northwest Ballet, principal dancer Lucien Postlewaite is retiring from the company and stepping into a new, offstage career.
In ballet, extension is everything. The ability to lift and hold the limbs in the air is the basis for much of a dancer’s movement and artistic expression. No one knows this as well as Lucien Postlewaite, who, at 42, has been dancing for almost his entire life. A principal at Pacific Northwest Ballet—and the…
How Hosting Is Changing in 2026
Seattle event planner Reneille Velez on the end of champagne escort walls and the return of thoughtful hosting.
Reneille Velez spends her days thinking about how people arrive in a room. Not just where they hang their coats or grab a drink, but how those first moments feel—the lighting, the sound, the sense that someone thought carefully about what it would be like to walk through the door. As the founder of GIAN,…
Seattle Gift Guide: Comfort, Style, and Everyday Essentials
Open them today, enjoy for months—and years—to come.
A few gift ideas for the season, mixing local favorites with smart, useful finds. Easy pieces to wear, sweet things to share, and a couple of upgrades for the home. Nothing fussy, just solid picks that make life a little nicer. Now the birds have a smart home too. The chic, camera-integrated Peep…