“A lot of people think about downsizing, but we actually did it,” Jeffrey Smith says about their recent move from a three-story Victorian residence into a cozy, story-and-a-half Arts and Crafts home just two blocks away.

“We spent 23 years decorating our other home to be ‘over-the-top’ Victorian throughout,” Kris Smith recalls. “Now we are taking our time furnishing this house with traditional Arts and Crafts décor.”

Architectural differences between the homes are pronounced. The Victorian era of the late 1800s and early 1900s was characterized by elaborate decorative accents. The early 20th-century Arts and Crafts movement, a style popular when the Smiths’ current home was built in 1918, eschewed the frills and embraced the natural beauty of wood and traditional craftsmanship.

The Arts and Crafts style is prevalent the moment the Smiths’ front door is opened. An abundance of tall, wooden windows with vertical panes, wooden floors, and dark wooden trim around the floor and ceiling impart an immediate sensation of serenity and comfort.

Built-in leaded glass door bookcases flank a dark brown brick fireplace in the living room, as if inviting a visitor to snuggle up in a chair and read. The harmony of the dark wood theme flows into the open dining room where more tall windows are the backdrop to a cozy window seat that extends the length of the room.

On the side wall of the foyer, three stained-glass windows with a floral design provide western light and are typical of the Arts and Crafts movement.

“I am rediscovering how much I love light,” Kris says. “You can see through the house from the front to the back, and from side to side. Our Victorian did not have those sightlines.”

Décor might be described as “eclectic family history.” Two framed antique dolls in the entry foyer are from the early 1900s and belonged to Kris’ great-grandmother who lived in Idaho near the Canadian border. “The Kalispel Native Americans presented them as gifts in appreciation for her hospitality when they camped and hunted near her property,” she says.

Hanging nearby is a prized possession of a print of a 1876 Compton and Dry map of their neighborhood showing the location of the Smith home as a farm field. “It was a birthday gift from Jeffrey,” she says.

Two 1904 wooden Koken barber chairs Kris coveted since she was in middle school were owned by her grandparents. Now they are conversation starters. On the wall, the “ugly waterfall painting,” as Kris describes it, was done by a great-great-aunt when she was learning to paint.

The spacious front porch is tucked under a typical Arts and Crafts exaggerated overhang, which features exposed “rafter tails” supporting a shallow, orange clay tile roof. The porch offers two types of outdoor relaxation. The covered portion over the front door offers plenty of room for an outdoor swing where Jeffrey enjoys reading in the evenings. The other half of the porch is open to the sky.

Although the backyard is tiny, the Smiths have put every inch to good use. A tented rectangular gazebo has a table with seating for six and is adjacent to a green patch of lawn. A shade garden takes up the remaining space, enhanced by a tall whimsical metal sculpture of a lady holding a flower. “It was done by my brother Todd Runberg, who is a sculptor in Fresno, Calif. We had to cut off the head to get it here, so we named it Marie after Marie Antoinette,” Kris says.

Twenty-seven years ago Kris was involved in a project recording oral histories for a local church and interviewed a couple in their home who had lived in the Shaw neighborhood for many years. “I loved their house and thought then it would be the perfect place to live,” Kris recalls. “Soon after we moved, the neighbor mentioned the name of the previous owner, and I realized we were living in the home I had admired decades ago.”

Kris and Jeffrey Smith

Ages • He’s 61; she’s 60.

Occupations • He teaches 19th century American history at Lindenwood University. She teaches 20th century American history, also at Lindenwood.

Home • Shaw neighborhood

Family • Daughter Lucy is getting her doctoral degree in history and women’s studies at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Mookie is part beagle and a rescue dog.