diff --git a/apps/app/components/core/image-picker-popover.tsx b/apps/app/components/core/image-picker-popover.tsx
index df7559e29..a6f2efb72 100644
--- a/apps/app/components/core/image-picker-popover.tsx
+++ b/apps/app/components/core/image-picker-popover.tsx
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ import { Input, Spinner, PrimaryButton } from "components/ui";
 // hooks
 import useOutsideClickDetector from "hooks/use-outside-click-detector";
 
+const unsplashEnabled =
+  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_UNSPLASH_ENABLED === "true" ||
+  process.env.NEXT_PUBLIC_UNSPLASH_ENABLED === "1";
+
 const tabOptions = [
   {
     key: "unsplash",
@@ -56,6 +60,8 @@ export const ImagePickerPopover: React.FC<Props> = ({ label, value, onChange })
     onChange(images[0].urls.regular);
   }, [value, onChange, images]);
 
+  if (!unsplashEnabled) return null;
+
   return (
     <Popover className="relative z-[2]" ref={ref}>
       <Popover.Button
@@ -92,9 +98,7 @@ export const ImagePickerPopover: React.FC<Props> = ({ label, value, onChange })
               </Tab.List>
               <Tab.Panels className="h-full w-full flex-1 overflow-y-auto overflow-x-hidden">
                 <Tab.Panel className="h-full w-full space-y-4">
-                  <div
-                    className="flex gap-x-2 pt-7"
-                  >
+                  <div className="flex gap-x-2 pt-7">
                     <Input
                       name="search"
                       className="text-sm"
@@ -103,7 +107,12 @@ export const ImagePickerPopover: React.FC<Props> = ({ label, value, onChange })
                       onChange={(e) => setFormData({ ...formData, search: e.target.value })}
                       placeholder="Search for images"
                     />
-                    <PrimaryButton type="button" onClick={()=>setSearchParams(formData.search)} className="bg-indigo-600" size="sm">
+                    <PrimaryButton
+                      type="button"
+                      onClick={() => setSearchParams(formData.search)}
+                      className="bg-indigo-600"
+                      size="sm"
+                    >
                       Search
                     </PrimaryButton>
                   </div>
diff --git a/apps/app/components/project/create-project-modal.tsx b/apps/app/components/project/create-project-modal.tsx
index 1669032f7..88552825f 100644
--- a/apps/app/components/project/create-project-modal.tsx
+++ b/apps/app/components/project/create-project-modal.tsx
@@ -41,7 +41,8 @@ const defaultValues: Partial<IProject> = {
   description: "",
   network: 2,
   icon: getRandomEmoji(),
-  cover_image: null,
+  cover_image:
+    "https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1575116464504-9e7652fddcb3?crop=entropy&cs=tinysrgb&fit=max&fm=jpg&ixid=MnwyODUyNTV8MHwxfHNlYXJjaHwxOHx8cGxhbmV8ZW58MHx8fHwxNjgxNDY4NTY5&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&q=80&w=1080",
 };
 
 const IsGuestCondition: React.FC<{
diff --git a/turbo.json b/turbo.json
index c75159980..fbf86f566 100644
--- a/turbo.json
+++ b/turbo.json
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
     "NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_SENTRY",
     "NEXT_PUBLIC_ENABLE_OAUTH",
     "NEXT_PUBLIC_UNSPLASH_ACCESS",
+    "NEXT_PUBLIC_UNSPLASH_ENABLED",
     "NEXT_PUBLIC_TRACK_EVENTS",
     "TRACKER_ACCESS_KEY",
     "NEXT_PUBLIC_CRISP_ID",