Plenty of people would love every existing inch and detail of this original. If you want modern, maybe you should put it back on the market and keep shopping.

I do not think mawler023 meant she wanted a "modern" look, just some updating and refreshing. Craftsman style is lots of wood. Short of painting or "washing" some of the wood (oh no!) it comes down to paint colors, flooring and furniture to lighten the feel of the space. Add a more colorful rug, like an ikat print, or ethnic look. Check out Pottery Barn for ideas. Replacing the wall color with something more upbeat will help. Perhaps a pale gray blue, like Benjamin Moore "Revere Pewter"...but take the wall color from the rug. The dark furniture adds even more wood. Perhaps add four simple parsons type chairs in a lighter fabric. You can mix them with the mission style chairs you already have. also, replace the light fixture with something in a brushed nickel or pewter finish. Simple lines. Hope that helps. Your home looks beautiful.

Your attention should be on lighting, furnishings and wall colour.
Brighter paint shades, as can be seen in your photos, enliven and co-ordinate with the woodwork better than pale neutrals.
Additional lighting throughout will eliminate shadows, brighten the woodwork, and place emphasis where you want it. Puck lighting in the glass cabinets, and a lowered, larger chandelier to bring focus to the table are a place to start.
Every stick of furniture, both carpets and your throw are darker than the woodwork, and keep the spaces looking weighted ( regardless of the walls). Work on lighter choices in all these areas - runners, slipcovers, glass and light coloured metals can all help in the short term, and as you replace furnishings, shop for lighter and brighter replacements.

Marla - jinx. :)

Come over to the dark side. After 12 years of wanting to paint our oak paneling, I am beginning to embrace the dark wood. It is not dated, it's vintage classic. Yours is, mine is 70's wannabe.
Find other elements to bounce light. Pick paints a couple shades lighter than you think you want. Choose light painted or metal furniture. Wall paper cardboard or foam core in light shades to back those shelves in glass cases. Or use mirrors. Get creative lighting to make it glow.
Gorgeous house!

We are definitely looking for more decor advice as we are keeping the beautiful woodwork. As Marla suggests, we are looking for a refresh by painting the walls and introducing better furniture (poor word choice w/modern on my part). The images contain the seller's furniture so any advice on how to fill the room would be much appreciated!

Gorgeous house. Most of the previous owners' lighting looks like contemporary Ikea fixtures that don't actually put out much light. Change the paint colors, replace the lighting fixtures, add some wall sconces or floor uplighting (cans), use lighter furniture. Prune trees and shrubs away from the windows - consult arborist first if they are valuable. Curtains should pull completely off the windows for maximum daylight.

Beautiful, beautiful room! All that wood can be intense, though, I know what you mean. Do not change the finish of the wood though. Try some painted pieces of furniture - nothing as stark as white, but maybe some weathered taupe or grey. A buffet with some colorful pieces on it - pink and purple flowers actually go beautiful with dark rooms like this and they look ALIVE. :) (attaching a pic of a dark secondhand buffet I painted with chalk paint - all done except hardware) Chairs with a large scale print on the seat cushions. (see my before and after pic) @216Sharon on twitter

Also check out Rejuvenation for gorgeous, high-quality light fixtures. @216Sharon on twitter

One more thing - you are going to want a light fixture that hangs down lower - closer to the table. @216Sharon on twitter

My 1916 Bungalow also has unpainted woodwork. Mine is also dark.

I did a lot of reading up on the subject, and what you likely have there is actually shellac that has darkened with age. It is super easy to clean this.

Get some rubber gloves, some soft rags (old towels work great) and some scrubby sponges. Go to any big box or local hardware store & get a can of denatured alcohol.

Pour some in a fairly large plastic tub & find an inconspicuous area & wipe wipe scrub scrub. The alcohol gets really cold! But...the scrubbing & wiping cleans years of dirt off the wood.

Depending on how hard you scrub, this can remove the shellac, but that goes back on easily with a paintbrush. Even if you're just scrubbing a bit off the new & old shellac's will mix together.

It is 100% natural! It's made from the shell bug.

Pics are my front door before & after cleanup & new shellac. I don't have a real good shot of the actual woodwork when I finished the door, but I did the same thing with my bathroom trim & it's a better pic. It was also just as dark in the beginning.

Here's the front door area, but being in the shade, it's a little hard to see....

I also agree about the light fixture. You can also find some nice ones on Craigslist & Ebay.

I have a neat one in my dining room. You might like something like this....

Duh, my light didn't attach...

My dark wood is lightened in one room with a white plaster frieze and ceiling

DC...I love that light fixture. I don't think I've seen that before. Surfing ebay for light fixtures.
Holy Moly...literally 1000's & it's time to leave work!

Bungalowmo...which one? The one in the den is a Noguchi. The one in the dining room is a Fortuny.

Would there be a way to light the insides of the gorgeous built-ins with the glass doors? Seems a lot of the dark actually comes from the darkness inside the cases. Either puck lights or mirror tricks maybe? I'm just a lurker, not a pro..... anyone ever seen that done?

Bungalowmo: thanks for the education! Who knew?

What I'm going to suggest is tricky...probably only something a pro should attempt (not me), but it's brilliant if you can pull it off. Europeans (Italians in particular) have historic homes where anything attached to the house is absolutely restored to its original state, but anything placed in it (freestanding furniture and rugs) is super super super modern. It brightens the space and there is an energy created in the tension between new and old. I've never seen it applied to craftsman style, but if you're brave, it would be interesting to see that philosophy applied.

@jpp221....Shortly after I bought my place I found a great site called Old House Web. The wealth of information I found there was amazing. A year or so ago the site was sold & the new owners didn't address the spam issue & many of us long timers got extremely fed up. One member built a new site called https://www.wavyglass.org/ He is the site admin & addresses the spammers immediately.

Old House Web http://www.oldhouseweb.com/forums/index.php?sid=1f318a7005b7f12916da13820af2ab9d
is still a great site for information & their search function is great. Most of the OHW members have left & moved to wavyglass.

No matter the age of your place or if you have plaster, wood, plumbing, restoration questions...the site is filled with dozens of folks who have done it all.

I highly recommend a visit if you have a home from around the 50's & earlier. I believe the oldest place is from the mid to early 1700's.

DC...That dining room fixture! Beautiful! :0)

Pale, butter-yellow walls and stained glass!

Even with the existing furniture, you'd brighten the room a lot with the addition of a light table cloth and light (washable) chair cushions.

Love, love, love your woodwork as is. It is NOT dated and I would hesitate to do more than a very gentle sponging with Murphy's without professional help (A professional that is experienced in working with restoring antique homes, not just any "professional"). It is ALL about the decorating! http://houzz.com/discussions/2755757

Lol wrong link: http://houzz.com/photos/5225088

http://houzz.com/photos/2479429

LOVE this wallpaper with the wood. Go for color! http://houzz.com/photos/2487246

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Bungalomo...great taste...that light will run you between $3 and $4K