Q. What are the best kitchen cabinet color combinations?
A. Color is a personal preference but there are some combinations that are more universally appealing than others for kitchen cabinets. Below TaylorCraft shows color combination photo examples of two tone kitchen cabinets.
One popular combination pairs darker base cabinet color with a lighter upper cabinet color. Pairing a darker base cabinet color and lighter upper cabinet color is a good design choice for multiple reasons.
Dark base cabinets ground the space and create contrast that breaks up the space allows the eye to rest.
Interior design and color expert Mark McCauley’s 3-3 Vertical Rule says the most pleasing visual combination of colors echoes what we see in nature, with dark colors on the ground (soil, dark grasses), mid-range colors in the mid-visual range (flowers, trees) and lightest colors at the top (clouds, sky, sun).
Using dark paint colors like deep greens, blues, browns or black, or darker wood species like walnut, mahogany or cherry, or stained white oak, red oak or beech on base cabinets is a perfect way to create a darker, grounded lower third space.
Using lighter upper cabinet colors like white or cream paint colors, lighter wood species like maple or neutral white oak or rift white oak without stain, creates a visually pleasing middle third. A light ceiling color creates the top third for the perfect trifecta in your kitchen design.
In the kitchen, using a darker base cabinet and island cabinet can also provide a more forgiving visual surface for dings that can happen with kids, dogs and daily use in a high traffic area.
The two-tone kitchen cabinets above feature the same cabinet door style on the upper and base cabinets, TaylorCraft cabinet door company’s OE5, IE2, flat panel, Shaker style doors.
Pairing wood and paint kitchen cabinets is another way to add an upscale look, add the warmth of natural wood while breaking up an expanse that would otherwise have too much of one tone. The kitchen cabinet color combination below pairs beautiful natural maple perimeter wall cabinets with forgiving black painted island cabinets. The second kitchen below pairs durable white oak island cabinets with white perimeter cabinets to brighten the room.
Some cabinet designers opt for a different cabinet door style on the upper and base cabinets to create a custom curated, furniture style look.
Good upper and base cabinet door style combinations keep “heavier” designs on the base cabinets and “lighter” designs on the uppers.
Heavier cabinet door designs for base cabinets typically include more detail to the inside edge and sometimes ornamentation, applied mouldings. or raised panels.
Lighter designs include flat panels, glass doors or mullion doors with glass inserts, and more simple inside edge profiles.
To tie different upper and base cabinet door styles together, we recommend keeping the outside edge consistent throughout.
No matter what color combination you settle on for your kitchen cabinets, be sure to use TaylorCraft’s cabinet doors to ensure a high quality end product with cabinet doors made 100% in the USA!
