A couple wanted open, light-filled connected spaces after they married and combined their families into one household. They reinvented their 1990s Hastings rambler by knocking down walls, remodeling the kitchen and creating a new mudroom and powder room. The chiaro (lightness) of the white-tinted oak flooring is pulled into the white paneling and granite countertops. Each room includes a contrasting scuro (darkness) accent to draw the eye, such as a black counter in the kitchen, black fixtures in the dining room, and a mottled black steel face above the fireplace.