Last week Wendy wrote about one of her principal design philosophies when decorating a room: incorporating at least one unique or one-of-a-kind item in every room. One of the items she briefly touched on were the decorative corbels that we have hanging in our front hallway.

I've always loved this decorative element of our home because they are unexpected in their current location, and they are a re-purpose from an old building. Originally an exterior architectural element of a somewhat ornate building, these probably adorned the facade high up under the roof's eaves. Even though elements like these were far off the ground, they were still given great attention to detail through intricate carvings. Over the years they received layer after layer of paint, losing most of their detail with each coat. 

There is an area just west of Cleveland, Ohio, starting at the West Side Market and extending down Lorain Avenue, that has several "antique stores." I put that in quotes because the stores more typically house a collection of architectural salvage, junk, distressed, garage sale, consignment, and other interesting items more than "antiques." Wendy and I used to hit all of our favorite shops along Lorain Avenue every time we went home. If not to buy anything, just to see the interesting characters that tend to run and own the places. Cleveland definitely has its charm. If you're ever up that way, I encourage you to check it out.

Back in 2003, during one of our trips home, we found these two lovely corbels in the basement of a shop called "Reincarnation." They were dirty, in multiple pieces, covered in paint, and had missing pieces of what looked like trim. Wendy saw them and their potential, and picked up the pair for just $10.