8 Fabulous Two-Toned Kitchens

White Uppers With Wood Bases

One way designers add some personality to a kitchen is to add upper cabinetry or shelving that is a different color than the base cabinets. This is what is called a two-toned kitchen.

Add Color Without Commitment

Two-toned kitchens can be fabulous in any style from Contemporary to Farmhouse and even Traditional.

This works great with color. This kitchen shows blue on the base cabinets and wood on the upper cabinets. This gets you the color you want without having it swallow the space.  

And yes, you are still committed—just not enough to get bored of over the years.

Use Light Color Above the Base Cabinets

A great way to "ground" a kitchen, is to do the base cabinets in the dark color and anything above base cabinets in a light color (countertops, backsplash, and upper cabinets).

Black and White

Black and white are always classic together. In a two-toned kitchen, it offers a dramatic spacial delineation.   

Since black is a trend, you might also like black finishes in your kitchen.

Aluminum Doors and Frosted Glass

The use of different materials can emphasize this two-toned design style.  

Aluminum doors have been a trend of contemporary kitchens for years. In this kitchen, the aluminum frames a frosted glass, creating a light colored upper cabinet, used with a dark wood base cabinet.  

Just a Touch of Another Tone

So how do you decide which cabinets are what color? This kitchen is a great and easy example of how to get that two-toned look without doing too much. Take all of the cabinets that touch the floor (base and tall cabinets), and that is your major color. Then take anything not touching the floor (upper cabinets), and treat them as your second color.  

The dark brown color in this kitchen holds the blue upper cabinets tight.

Modern High Contrast Tones

European kitchen design also lends itself well to the two-toned aesthetic. Lacquered and colored glass doors mix well with wood veneers or the new stamped melamine cabinet doors. 

In this kitchen, the high contrast in the dark upper cabinets creates a dramatic eye-level experience. Dark upper cabinets command the wall space while matching dark panels encapsulate the white cabinetry.  

This is an example of a well-designed, two-toned color layout.

Two-Toned Retro Makeover

If you are not ready to embark on a kitchen remodel, you can certainly go to the paint store and DIY yourself a two-toned kitchen.  

This kitchen makes use of fun retro green cabinets and turquoise accents. This is an example of a glamorous cosmetic update to give your kitchen more life.