Wow. I, for one, am sure salivating over those beautiful pictures. Probably not exactly what Matt and Trish were expecting or looking for, but they sure took my breath away. We also are building a Craftsman house. Since I couldn't afford a real architect, I have done my own extensive research. And believe it or not...as useful as the internet is, I found the old fashioned library to be the best resource. I basically designed our plan myself. I tried very hard to stick to some true Craftsman elements with the scale, trim, and openness of the floorplan. Of course I'm pretty sure that my very large kitchen, master bath and closet do not fit the true Craftsman style, I have tried to be authentic in other ways. As far as decorating I do not plan to emulate a true Craftsman because I have a lot of traditional, transitional, and semi-antique (handcrafted pieces from the 1920s-1940s) that I will not part with. I am instead trying to create a Craftsman "mood" by highlighting generous usage of stained woodwork and painted tiles. We also have a decent but small start of a collection of art glass that I will be highlighting. I am going to be using earthy and sort of dark colors to achieve that mood. I know that my house will probably be somewhat dark even though there are lots of windows. The deep overhangs and eaves will sort of shadow the natural light. That's perfectly OK with me. I am not a bright light type of person. I like warm woods and dark colors. For what it's worth, I'm also not a morning person. I hope that the house we are creating will be a work of art and live well with my family. It certainly has been well thought out. I know it is not going to be authentic by any means so I hope that it doesn't offend anyone. The house will be in a historical district. Oddly enough not one of the other houses in the area seem to be a real clear style even though they were all built between 1915-1930. ECLECTIC RULES! I guess we'll fit in....

Cape cod style is original to the coast of New England. Traditionally the interior was coastal style. But the style has been built all over. There was tons of cape cods built after WWll in our area and we are no where even close to a ocean. Decorating the interior with sea shells, ship lap, etc would look silly in our area. It was just an economical solid home to build for a family. Just smaller closed off rooms with narrow baseboards, wood doors and sometimes a fireplace in the living room. They are noted for smaller window so the interior lacks light. I would lighten up the interior as much as possible. I also do not like painting woodwork, but cape cods are not noted for exceptional woodworking. Except for the outside style of a cape cod, the inside is anything goes since there is really no interior style. That is why yours had the 70s interior, because it was built in the 70s.

This is a paintable, 6 panel door with two windows that I think would look great with your house! We had a thermatru door from Home Depot in our other house and a thermatru door from a door and window company in this house. The one from the door company was a lot more expensive and it is a lot more sturdy. So, just know exactly what you are looking at because there are variations I quality level within the line. The one from Home Depot was fine, just not as solid as this one.

Here is a light I am considering photoshopped on my house. Does the rubbed oil Bronze finish go with my house or should I find black lights?