In a house with the same colored floors, are two toned kitchen cabinets, with an off-white (well, not bright white) on top and medium wood on the bottom fresh or ugly?
I think I like it, but it's not the norm right now. Most people are doing grays/dark stain/navy on the bottom in a two tone kitchen.
WWYT?
60 votes
squash / 13208 posts
I don't like it - If I saw this I would assume you just hadn't gotten around to finishing the bottoms
clementine / 955 posts
I'm a big fan of the two-tone with color, but I feel like with stain it misses the mark.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
The off white looks warm, but the medium tone cabinet reads 90s.
wonderful pear / 26210 posts
Would I actively do that look, no. But if I was buying a property and that was how the kitchen was done (not DIY, but designed and properly sprayed), it would not deter me from buying it.
wonderful pomelo / 30692 posts
I agree that the grey looks too trendy. I prefer a darker stain for the lower cabinets. Like this:
nectarine / 2400 posts
We have all white uppers and lowers for the cabinets around the wall but then a wood tone island, although darker stain then you have pictured. We love it
grapefruit / 4278 posts
I can't put my finger on why, but two toned with a stain just looks odd. I'm not a huge fan of the two-toned look to begin with, but it looks even more off with the wood stain to me.
eggplant / 11716 posts
I'm kind of obsessed with the idea of white uppers and medium toned lowers, because my "style" is like a contemporary nod to mid century modern. And mid century modern is all about natural wood.
I keep looking for good inspo pictures.
pear / 1809 posts
I'm not a fan of the two-toned look. I don't see it lasting, and I think kitchens that have it will look dated
grapefruit / 4466 posts
I'm not a big fan of mixing painted and stained (then on top of that there are the colors and textures in the countertops and backsplash - it just feels too busy and not unified enough). I like the individual elements though...
grapefruit / 4466 posts
p.s. just saw the last pics you posted and like those better - i think b/c upper cabinets are the same tone as the backsplash and counters
nectarine / 2431 posts
I'm not a fan. It sounds like we have similar design aesthetics, and I would just keep it all the natural wood in a stain I loved.
nectarine / 2243 posts
I only like it when it has a Scandinavian look to it. When basically everything is white or bleached and the lowers are either very light wood or same color as flooring (which is typically light)
The only time I've seen it work with a darker wood is when floors are medium and the island is made out of walnut and both are in the same color family
But I agree, the painted lowers/island is a very trendy look.
Below are some examples of walnut/black walnut
bananas / 9227 posts
@Anagram: I'm not a fan of the lighter woods, but that picture with the arched doorway got me swooning!
I also don't think the two-toned is too trendy. Go with what you love
wonderful cherry / 21504 posts
@Anagram: is this in a home you are staying in for a long long time or one that you may want to sell before it comes time to redo the kitchen again? I do think that look would be a harder sell for many buyers. But if you plan to stay there and love it, who cares?
Personally Iâm not a huge fan of two tone in general- but I much prefer it with a blue or gray bottom to wood stain. A gray stain would be pretty to me. But I also agree thatâs more trendy and will look more dated in a few years than all white or all wood.
Also I feel like kitchens with a lot of light can pull off more options, including darker stains. Kitchens that donât get tons of natural light can feel so heavy with dark stained wood (which is exactly what I have right now).
blogger / wonderful cherry / 21628 posts
Do what you love! Kitchen designs are trendy and no matter what you pick it will look dated in 10 years.
ETA: I say this as someone who looks at photos of houses as part of my job. 
apricot / 264 posts
Iâm not a fan of the two tone look for all of the cabinets. Our house came with the island painted a dark grey and the rest of the cabinets in white. But of the pictures posted I like the darker color wood.
pomegranate / 3658 posts
Light- to mid-toned wood is suuuuper out of style right now; that's why you don't see it done with two-tone or really at all (outside of builder-grade). My personal preference is very much in line with current trends, so I love the gray and dark stained cabinets in the other photos you posted. If I saw a two-toned kitchen with half of the cabinets in light wood, I would assume it was a half-finished remodel. And if I were buying that house, I would put it on the to-do list to stain or replace those cabinets.
squash / 13199 posts
@Anagram: I havent really seen a two tone kitchen and we just did new construction and looked at tons of homes. In this picture I like how it looks but i really the look or a darker stain or cooler color paint over the light stain in the picture. In my mind the lighter stain looks dated
persimmon / 1345 posts
I'm not a fan but if I had to go with the two toned look, I would pick white and a darker stain on bottom. Even if gray could get too trendy
I'm not a fan of the lighter natural wood color of the bottom. It does look a little half finished. Maybe it's the backsplash too.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@Anagram: the light wood bottom in the comtemporary kitchen looks purposeful and not too bad. a light Mango wood and high gloss white cabinets are a good combo.
persimmon / 1286 posts
We have this in our kitchen- white uppers and wood lowers (well, wood island- donât really have any lowers, just a few full length cabinets).
However our wood is darker than this pic but still not espresso dark. I wanted something warm.
eggplant / 11716 posts
@PawPrints: haha! I've read like 3 articles that it's coming back in.
pomegranate / 3658 posts
@Anagram: Wow really? I guess everything comes back around eventually. Man that means my joyful time of living in a world of dark-wood and gray-and-white kitchens is coming to a close!
clementine / 806 posts
@Anagram: if your style is contemporary/mcm (mine is too), check out "the house milk kitchen" on Design Milk: https://design-milk.com/the-house-milk-kitchen-project-its-a-wrap-finally/
They have medium wood lowers and wood sides on the uppers, but white fronts and counters. The floor is a lighter wood. We used this as inspiration when we re-did the kitchen in our old house but we did all wood cabinets
coconut / 8472 posts
So what I donât like about the original picture is that the cabinets look like two totally different styles. Like they picked out two different seriesâs if cabinets and different types of drawer pulls. It doesnât look like it goes together, more than just the colors.
In contrast, look at the white and dark gray inspiration. The colors are different but the cabinets are the same series and the pulls are nicely coordinated.
grapefruit / 4045 posts
I think it would look really nice!!! As long as the bottom wood cabinets look as fresh as the top cabinets. If you just leave bottom wood cabinets as-is and freshen up the top cabinets, then the reno might look incomplete.
grapefruit / 4455 posts
I guess I'm in the minority but I don't mind it, and I say do what you like! Our kitchen is currently the most dated looking room in our house though. We just don't have the funds for it right now.
Also.. for me personally, cleanliness is the most important part of a kitchen, so I don't see a problem with any of them, lol. I used to work in property management and the tenants we had who had these luxurious but messy kitchens..yuck.
nectarine / 2400 posts
@MrsLonghorn: I like that link you posted and I think those work better because the cabinets are more mid century modern in style. Some of the pics above seem to be a more traditional style cabinet which I donât think works as well in that scheme
clementine / 856 posts
We have a contemporary vibe in our house, and have white uppers with maple lowers. Drawers and doors are flat slab style. I don't believe my kitchen looks dated, but hey, maybe I'm wrong. If I had to do it again, I'd go with rift sawn white oak for the lowers.
wonderful pea / 17279 posts
@BabyTsMom: nice kitchen. Your cabinet, floor, oven hood, and island fit perfectly for that tuxedo color combo.
After seeing BabyTsMom kitchen it reminded me of a kitchen in my momâs neighborhood. This remodel is at least 8 years old and doesnât have the tuxedo look youâre going for, but the cabinet style and color may be up your alley. @anamgram:
grapefruit / 4584 posts
I like the two-toned look (though I agree I like it slightly better with navy/grey on the bottom, I think it looks fine with the mid-tone wood as well). That said, I wouldn't spend a lot of money changing my kitchen to look like that if I thought I'd move and need to re-sell, or if I had not been absolutely in love with the look for a long time. It's all over right now, but I agree with others that it will look dated and go out of style pretty quickly. BUT - if you love it and intend to stay in the house, who cares what is trendy in 5 years?!
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