Mixing Cabinet Styles and Finishes in Your Kitchen

Updated on: August 01, 2022

Design doesn't have to follow any certain pattern and can be tailor-made to fit your style! One way to mix it up in your home is to combine finishes and/or cabinet door styles in your kitchen. We have a few suggestions on how to pull off this look and a few tips that will help your design look flawless and not a mix and match mess!

Placement

The placement of your mixed cabinet finishes and door styles is important. The two most popular combinations are mixing up your upper and lower cabinets or changing up the wall and island cabinets.

If you decide to mix your upper and lowers, keep in mind your uppers should be the lighter of the finishes, whether you go stained or painted. If you put a darker finish on the uppers, it gives a heavy look to them and they won't look balanced with your lower cabinets. So, keep the uppers light and bright and save the darker color for the lower cabinets.

If you decide switching up the styles and finishes on your wall cabinets and your kitchen island is more the look you are going for, it is a great choice because this type of placement gives a furniture-style look to your island and makes your kitchen look more collected and unique, rather than cookie cutter.

Finishes

Certain combinations look better than others when mixing wood finishes in a kitchen. You can mix painted finishes with stained finishes. A very popular combination right now is white painted cabinets paired with a dark stained cabinet (typically on the island). It's a beautiful look that blends modern with traditional, creating a classic look that won't go out of style any time soon.

You can also pair two painted finishes with each other. Again, the white painted finish is a safe choice as your main color and then selecting a darker painted finish for your lower cabinets or island. Popular contrasting cabinet finish choices for this look are gray and black, but we have also seen a few gorgeous kitchens that took a bold step and contrasted with navy painted cabinets!

A tough combo to master is the contrasting stain look. Choosing two wood stains for your kitchen can be a hard task because they need to be complementary (some stains can go "cool" while others are warmer in finish) and you need to have enough of a contrast to where the effect is noticeable. Another thing to keep in mind is mixing wood finishes in a kitchen that also has wood floors could be overload and may not create the best overall look.

Mixing Cabinet Door Styles

While selecting finishes for your cabinets, you can also switch up the actual door style itself. The key to pulling off this combo is to select complementary door styles. If you are going for a more modern or transitional look, keep both door styles clean and simple. One can have just a bit more detail than the other. If you are going for a traditional look, choose two door styles that have ornate moldings and details.