Ever since the notion of a shelf came about - a horizontal surface attached to a vertical wall - people have been devising ingenious and decorative methods of joining the two. Shelf brackets available today are made from virtually every type of wood and a wide variety of metals. From simple triangular steel shelf brackets to carved wooden models to decorative, cast iron or brass styles, today's shelf hanger can chose from an enormous assortment in order to find the shelf bracket with the appropriate style.

Wooden shelf brackets are often prepackaged with wooden shelves, carved from the same material. Lacquered shelves of maple, oak or mahogany can be beautifully enhanced with shelf brackets carved from the same material and finished so their true color shows through. Some wooden brackets have a curved radius connecting the two legs with elaborate carving inside the arc. Some simply have an attractive, stepped and curved surface forming the third leg of the shelf bracket which is simply a triangular shape.