Choose Which Corbel Would Be Best For Your Project

First, when deciding how to use corbels and brackets, consider what will add distinctive details to your interior design with corbels of a particular type.

Corbels are architectural elements that are typically made of wood, stone or metal. Use them to support or decorate structures such as shelves, counter tops, mantels, overhangs and archways. There are various types of corbels available, each with its own design and style for decorative embellishment.

Here are some common types of corbel that will provide visual interest and functional support:

Traditional Corbels:

These are classic decorative corbels with intricate designs and ornamental details, often featuring floral motifs, scrolls or acanthus leaves. Try fixing them to an interior wall.

Large Architectural Corbel from Wild Goose Carvings

Bracket Corbels:

These corbels have a triangular or L-shaped design, providing support from below. Choose them for shelves, counter tops and cabinets, and for decorative or functional purposes.

A small pierced carved bracket from Wild Goose Carvings

Mission/Arts and Crafts Corbels:

These corbels are characterized by clean, simple lines and often feature square or rectangular shapes. Find them commonly in Craftsman or Arts and Crafts style home architecture.

Medium Zen Corbels with Capping from Wild Goose Carvings

Rustic Corbels:

These decorative corbels have a weathered or distressed appearance, giving them a rustic or antique look. They are often made from reclaimed wood and feature rough textures and natural splits and imperfections.

Modern Corbels:

These corbels have sleek, minimalist designs and are often made of metal. Choose them for modern or contemporary interior styles. Add distinctive details to your contemporary interior design with corbels.

Scroll Corbels:

These corbels have elegant, curved designs, resembling scrolls or volutes. Add a touch of sophistication for decorative purposes under kitchen cabinets or islands in Victorian era homes.

Extra wide scrolled corbel from Wild Goose Carvings

Animal-themed Corbels:

These corbels feature animal motifs such as lions, eagles or dragons and often appeal to hobbyists. They can be highly detailed and are popular in certain architectural styles, such as Gothic or Maximalist.

Custom Corbels:

If you have a specific design in mind, you can also have corbels custom-made to match your requirements. Custom corbels allow you to personalize the design, size, and material according to your preferences.

Select Your Material and Size

Secondly ask yourself what material should your corbel be made from? Select from metal, stone, wood or synthetic material. Do you require a large, medium or small corbel? Add distinctive details to your interior design with corbels to suit your room.

When purchasing corbels, you can find them at home improvement stores, architectural salvage yards, specialty woodworking or metalworking shops, and via online retailers. It’s important to consider the material, style, size and load-bearing capacity of the corbel, to ensure it suits your specific needs and complements your desired aesthetic.

Metal Brackets and Corbels:

Metal corbels can be shaped from cast iron, wrought iron, flat mild steel, angle iron or stainless steel. Each method has its own distinctive characteristics. Add distinctive details to your interior design with metal corbel brackets.

Cast Iron Corbels

Cast iron shelf brackets can be both rugged and the most decoratively embossed with detail and texture. www.castinstyle.co.uk  are a family firm based near Ironbridge in Shropshire, the site of the creation of the cast iron industry 350 years ago. Their range entitled Born of Fire and Stone offers a vast choice of original patterns for cast iron shelf brackets and they provide a bespoke service. Casting is made by creating the impression of the pattern into a sand mould. The sand is made of mixture of fine sand and oil to hold the finest detail. They can provide short runs of a given pattern. A wide range of cast iron and cast brass brackets are also available from yesterhome.com

Cast iron shelf brackets can also be fabricated from cast iron rod, round or square in cross section, in dimensions from 35 to 200mm.

Wrought Iron Brackets

The art of creating wrought iron brackets lends itself to providing delicate and highly attractive metal flourishes of scrolls and curls. Wrought iron brackets are provided with screw holes that are easy to fix through. Traditional hand forged brackets can be obtained from Tom Fell blacksmith at www.tomfell.com or your local blacksmith.

Shaped Mild Steel

Welded metal shelf brackets can be made in mild steel bar, angle iron or stainless steel.

Stainless Steel Corbels

Welded from flat or square section, stainless steel is more corrosion resistant than mild steel. It comprises an alloy with upwards  of 10.5% chromium. The chromium produces a thin layer of oxide on the surface of the steel that inhibits surface corrosion. Higher content of chromium improves corrosion resistance.

Additional metal elements such as Nickel, Molybdenum, Titanium and Copper, along with non-metal additions such as Carbon and Nitrogen are added to improve its malleability and strength. The degree of durability and corrosion resistance of the metal varies according to the content of these additives.

As a general rule, 304 Grade stainless steel is for indoor corbel brackets and 316 Grade, with a higher degree of molybdenum content, for use in an outdoor or marine environment.

Some stainless steel brackets are available from Etsy.

Stone Corbels

Natural stone corbels are obtainable from a variety of natural stone suppliers and will depend on the type of stone that naturally occurs in your area. Refer to your local yellow pages for stone suppliers and stone quarries. For example https://cumbrianstone.co.uk

Cast stone corbels are made from reconstructed and reconstituted stone. They are a manufactured stone, using natural stone materials as well as cement and specialised sand, mixed with colouring and hardening agents. The finished product has a look and feel similar to natural stone and is just as durable and long-lasting, without the striations or internal cracks which can cause natural stone to weather more quickly over time. Consider the dimensions required for your corbel to bond into existing stonework.  Cranborne Stone Corbels are designed to fit standard brick courses, as decorative supports jutting out.  https://www.cranbornestone.co.uk/products/corbels/

Plaster Corbels

By its nature, moulded plaster is primarily intended for decoration and less so to provide structural support. Moulded plaster corbels are available in a variety of sizes and design themes. They can be used for arches, doorways or pillars.

For further advice contact Keaneys Ltd on keaneys.co.uk or British Mouldings in Norwich.

Wood Corbels

Classical Wooden Corbels with Capping from Wild Goose Carvings

Wooden corbels are available in a variety of soft woods and hard woods. Wild Goose Carvings has the most comprehensive range of traditionally designed hand carved wooden corbels in the UK. www.buycarvings.co.uk . Add distinctive details to your interior design with corbels made from a variety of woods.

Their in stock range features vintage style corbels, in a choice of woods, for fireplace mantels, dining room shelving and delightful home decor. Each piece is individually hand carved by a master craftsman in solid natural wood using a mallet and meticulously sharpened chisel.

Use wood corbels for functional purposes, providing additional support. Corbels should be placed below a shelf or overhang with an overhang one third of the total depth of the shelf or protruding structure.

So they are a great idea for a unique touch in interior decorating and also the largest architectural corbels are impressive in their sheer scale. Medium interior décor and fireplace brackets bring a feature focus to furniture and fireplace surrounds. Smaller detail corbel brackets are best used to subtly enrich joinery and wooden structures.

Research Your Local Market

Depending on the scale of the project and the time available, you may want to seek out a second hand corbel from a local flea market, vintage upcycling shop, architectural salvage operator or car boot sale, where you can come up with some great buys. Have a check list in your pocket of a range of sizes you could work with and don’t forget to go armed with a tape measure,

Joinery contractors, bar, restaurant fitters and architectural specifiers fitters will want to go straight to professional suppliers for functional corbels and guaranteed goods.

There are a range of suppliers that can provide decorative or functional corbels from stock. Specialist woodcarving suppliers Wild Goose Carvings, www.buycarvings.co.uk have some amazing, cost-effective products and offer next day delivery as standard. Add distinctive details to your interior design with hand carved wood corbel brackets.

Etsy, Ebay, Victorian Emporium and Dresser Mouldings all provide professional services.

Corbel used over a range cooker by Wild Goose Carvings

Challenge your creative juices and come up with a design of your own. Visit a historic stately home for inspiration. Make a drawing or scale model of the correct sized corbel for your purposes. Find a local woodworking or wood carving specialist and discuss what they can offer within your budget. Add distinctive details to your interior design with corbel brackets.