How To Add Vintage Charm and Character With Wood Corbels
April 28, 2026
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Using wood corbels around the house for easy, charming updates.
These wood accents are inexpensive, easy to customize and are readily
available at most big box hardware stores.
I'm constantly looking for easy ways to add more character to our home.
Installing crown molding, wainscoting and built ins are more elaborate ways,
but there are plenty of smaller updates that add charm to even the newest
houses!
I've loved using corbels in both of our homes throughout the years, and I keep
coming up with new places to install them. I'll share a few of the ways I've
used them in the past, as well as my latest project!
These wood corbels come in endless sizes, designs and prices. I've
purchased them for as little as a few dollars and seen custom options priced
at hundreds of dollars each! You can find incredibly ornate versions, but my
favorites have been the simplest versions that are the easiest to find:
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Lowe's and
Home Depot
carry medium and large sizes in stock -- at seven by seven inches and ten by
ten inches respectively.
You can find the exact same corbels online
in those sizes as well as a smaller size (that one is five inches long each
way). Perfect for a small accent shelf!
I recently shared some
small updates in our powder room, but I built this pretty shelf years back:
I had a scrap piece of butcher block countertop from another project, and
used a smaller set of these corbels to make this DIY shelf. I secured the
corbels with wood glue and painted it all in a bright white to match the
board and batten in the room.
The corbels come with metal keyhole brackets already installed on the back for easy hanging.
The corbels on that bathroom project actually support the shelf above, but
you can add them just about anywhere as a decorative accent as well. In our
pantry, they help to soften the hard lines of the shelving and vertical
planks on the wall behind:
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| Tour our pantry updates here! |
The curves and detailed ends of the corbels are such a lovely addition!
They also look fantastic under kitchen wall cabinets. I installed a few
under the uppers in our old kitchen makeover:
They helped to break up that long expanse of backsplash along that wall. I
recommend painting your corbels to match your kitchen cabinets. (Paint
stores can match it for you if you bring in a cabinet door!)
I've used these in other ways too -- the curve of these specific corbels is
perfect for making
DIY feet for base kitchen cabinets:
I've used both the medium and large sized corbels for this project. You can
keep the curved end for a more ornate look, or cut them off for the
transitional design I wanted in our rooms.
This week I added another set of corbels to our laundry room -- I thought
they would be a pretty accent under our built in mud room cubbies.
For an installation like this, I don't use the hanging hardware on the back.
Instead I screw them in through the thin part of the wood to attach:
These
thin, self-tapping screws don't split the wood
and countersink nicely, so you can fill in the holes for a clean look.
After caulking the seams and touching up the paint, these look like they've
always been there!:
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| You can find that cute rechargeable lamp here. |
Corbels are one of those small, "quieter" touches that I love. When you
can't necessarily put your finger on what it is that makes a space feel more
custom, but you know there's something.
And like I mentioned before, the curves of these beauties are a nice
addition in any room:
Have you added these around your home? There are
SO many options to suit your design style
-- whether you want them to be the star of the show or just a simple detail
in a room.
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