The average American spends close to an hour a day in their kitchen, making it one of the most used rooms in the home. If you’re going to spend that much time in just one room, shouldn’t it look good?

While there’s plenty of ways to make your kitchen look good, one stylish way the expert kitchen designers at E.W. Kitchens suggest is to mix colors, tones or materials to create a two-tone kitchen. Two-tone kitchen cabinetry is a hot design trend right now and with good reason. The trend refers to any kitchen space that combines two different colors or finishes of cabinetry, whether that be an accent color in one area, like an island or a kitchen with contrasting upper and lower cabinets.

How can you create a two-tone kitchen?

In the past, the best way to make a visual statement in your kitchen was with an exciting paint color or statement backsplash. However recently, more and more homeowners have realized that boundaries can be pushed and are abandoning uniformity.

Adding in a statement color on the island or including a contrasting colors on the lower and upper cabinets, can really bring your kitchen to the next level. Imagine white cabinets, accented with blue or black cabinetry, paired with natural wood. There are a multitude of ways to mix and match cabinetry and transform your space.

Tips for design your two tone kitchen:

• Choose a focal point. One of the most common ways to start the trend in your kitchen is through selecting one area of cabinetry to become a focal point. In most cases, a kitchen island is chosen due to its central spot in the layout. Another way to bring in a second color is in a stand alone pantry or wet bar.
  
• Paint isn’t the only way to design a two-tone kitchen. Maybe bold green or deep navy painted cabinetry isn’t your thing, which is fine because there are plenty of other ways to get the look. One way is pairing simple painted cabinetry and wood cabinetry. Incorporating wood into a kitchen not only adds warmth and elegance but also classic charm. Both Walnut and Quarter Sawn Oak woods are very popular of late.
  
• Don’t forget about the details – they’re important. However you decide to create your two-tone kitchen, there’s a very important detail to remember. It’s crucial to have a at least one design element that ties the two different colors together. While there’s a few ways to ensure you’re keeping the space cohesive, we always encourage our clients to use the same hardware or tile backsplash throughout the space.

  

What makes two-tone kitchens such a great choice?

There are several benefits to adding a two-tone kitchen to your home, but we feel passionately about three:

• Two-tone cabinetry can make even the plainest of kitchens feel elegant and provide significant visual appeal.
• Two-tone cabinetry is also a great way to create the illusion of space in a kitchen that’s on the smaller side. By utilizing light upper cabinets with dark lowers, the eye is immediately drawn up giving the appearance of a larger space.
• Lastly, and most important to many, with two-tone cabinetry being a hot trend right now, adding this design to your home is a great way to increase your resale value.

Kitchen design trends are nothing new, but we’re particularly excited about what’s happening right now with the two-tone look. Allow yourself to become inspired before your next kitchen renovation by visiting www.ewkitchens.com.