how do you make a wooden shelf bracket with style?”
DIY has a description of how to make Arts & Crafts or Mission style shelf brackets out of a furniture element called a corbel. “Furniture expert Bruce Johnson explains how to make an arts and crafts-style shelf, incorporating a characteristic design detail of mission-style furniture, the corbel, into the pattern of the shelf brackets. Materials: Three oak boards Cardboard Pencil Measuring tape Medium-grit sandpaper Tack cloth Saber saw or handsaw Gel stain in aged oak Clean rags Drill Wood glue Clamps Nails Wood putty Satin-finish polyurethane Paintbrush The craftsman-style shelf is made from four cut pieces of oak: two corbel-shaped brackets, a shelf and a curved back piece. Make a cardboard pattern of a corbel. Trace the pattern from a corbel, or draw one freehand. Cut out corbel-shaped brackets with a saber saw or handsaw. Cut a shelf to the desired length and a curved back piece appropriate to the size of the shelf and brackets. Sand all pieces with medium-grit sandpaper to soften