One of our favorite 2025 kitchen trends is two tone kitchen cabinets. This trend is a happy medium between all-white and a color-rich kitchen. This look has been steadily gaining popularity over the past few years, and we are now seeing multiple iterations of dual-color kitchen cabinets in multifamily projects.
The best part about this timeless kitchen trend: Two-tone cabinets let you play with color without going all in. Utilize a dramatic hue on the island or one wall of cabinets. Layer neutrals on top and color on the bottom.
1. Strive for balance.
Choosing a two-tone cabinet combo means paying special attention to the color balance in your design. A few design tricks can help you do that. For starters, instead of picking two completely distinct colors, vary the tonality in a single color, such as pairing a lighter wood grain cabinet with a darker wood grain. Choose lower cabinets in the darker hue and uppers in the lighter one. If you have distinct colors in mind, think about their brightness and lightness. Very bold colors demand more visual energy and need to be balanced with a more neutral hue.
2. Use the second tone as an accent.
If you are on the fence about two-tone cabinets for your multifamily project, then strive for highlights versus true color balance.
3. Use white for a harmonious look.
Choosing a trio of colors is a commonly used design trick that helps to ensure visual balance; it is often referred to as the 60-30-10 rule. For color selection, it translates to 60% of a dominant color, 30% of a secondary color, and 10% for the accent color. For kitchen cabinets, white is an excellent choice for the second color in a mostly two-tone cabinet composition. Try uppers white to allow resting places for the eye or to balance a strong tone with a noticeably light hue. Your CP Build Account Manager can assist with color selections.
