Bedroom Wall Design

Since I have been at Osborne Wood Products, I have learned a lot about the woodworking industry, and some of my best teachers were actually our customers. One thing in particular that comes to mind is the many uses for our corbels. Before I started working at Osborne Wood Products, I did not even know what a corbel was, much less the many uses our customers have created with them. Osborne Wood Products has a very large variety of corbels, from the very small wood corbels to the very large Island height, plus many different styles of metal corbels recently added to the lineup. I have had the privilege of seeing the many uses through our blog. There are many of our customer’s projects posted on our blog that really show customer creativity.
I have seen our corbels used in contemporary settings using our Contemporary or Mission style corbels or a more traditional setting using our carved corbels such as the Acanthus leaf, Classic, or grape corbels. Our larger corbels such as the Island height and the Ancona corbels have been used to support mantels as well as large islands that need a strong presence to create a focal point. I have seen some of our smaller corbels used as the typical shelf brackets supporting a long shelf at each end or used to create smaller shelves for displaying one item. Flanking each side of a range hood to add nice detail to the range hood is another idea. Another use that I have seen for the smaller corbels is to create a bit more detail to our hand carved molding. In this example, the corbels and molding were used on an entertainment unit where the molding was applied vertically on either side of the entertainment unit, and the corbels were installed at the top of the molding, like a crown. Corbels could be used in the corners of an entry to add some detail or alongside crown molding in the corners. I have also seen corbels used in a technique called “corbelling” where rows of corbels are used to support a projecting wall. Finally, one of the most unusual uses I have seen is to use corbels to support a round, two-tiered coffee table. In this example, the customer used two round table tops and installed the corbels in-between the table

tops to create the two tiers, and bun feet were installed on the bottom.

Looking back into the history of corbels, the word “corbel” comes from old French and is derived from the Latin word “corbellus,” meaning “raven,” which refers to its beaklike shape. They were more commonly used on the sides of churches, cathedrals, or under windowsills. Large metal corbels were also once used to support wall-mount sinks.

Understanding the woodworking industry is one thing; learning to think outside the box has definitely come from our very creative customers.

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