Two Tone Dining Rooms: 23 Designer Ideas To Make It Work

A dining room is one of the house’s most used rooms, hosting activities and family members at least 2-3 times a day. In addition, it is also the culminating space when guests come over, especially during family reunions and holiday celebrations. Because of this, creating a dynamic, vibrant space is key when designing, and using two tone dining room color scheme is a great way to achieve this.

Two Tone Dining Room Designs

There are many important things to consider when choosing paint color for walls, molding, and furniture, and choosing how to apply different finishes together. Here are a few important things to consider when coming up with two tone room ideas:

Layout – Determine whether the colors will be separated per wall or by a horizontal chair rail or wainscoting. Color blocking can also depend on the surface being applied. For example, the base color can be applied to the plain walls, while the accent color is applied only to the cornices, wainscoting, and trims.

Color – Create and compare swatches to see how different colors mix and match together. There are many combinations to choose from, and a good way of organizing these is by classifying them into color schemes. A monochrome scheme uses the same hue but in varying lighter or darker shades.

Analogous colors refer to hues beside each other on the color wheel, which works great for when you want a cool-toned room or a warm-toned room in a combination of two tones. A trickier yet highly rewarding scheme, when used properly, is complementary color schemes, or those that sit opposite each other on the color wheel. These are highly opposite hues, meaning their combination brings out the vibrancy of the other hue.

Shades – When mixing colors together, also take note that you can adjust different things such as their brightness and vibrancy. Usually, choosing a lighter shade is a good way to subdue a more solid base color. Conversely, using a clean white or off white is a great way to complement a wall in a vibrant color.

Finishes – Sometimes, creating a two-tone color scheme does not automatically entail different paint swatches, it could also mean differing types of material. For example, using a rough, heavy-grained wood against a pale, fine-grained polished stone can achieve dramatic results. Materials of the same finish can also be matched or complemented as well, depending on the intent of the designer.

Furnishings – Sometimes, it is easier to achieve a unified color palette if the room to be two-toned is brand new and has no existing furnishings yet. Since these furniture pieces are going to be a permanent part of the room as well, designers should make sure that they also go with the color scheme of the room—making sure that the furniture neither sticks out like a sore thumb nor is completely absorbed into the walls.

This round table features two large two-seat benches, paired off with two pairs of smaller chairs in similar flower embroidered upholstery. The setup is topped off by a hanging crystal chandelier, and a base of a warm grey carpet running all around the room. The walls are in a two-tone scheme, with the paneled wainscoting in white reaching two-thirds the wall height. The remaining third is painted in a somber warm grey, a muted background for the Contemporary luxe dining room.

Two-Tone Dining Room Color Palettes Comparison

The chart below covers the eight combinations that show up most often in dining rooms, what each one actually does to a space, and the thing that can go wrong so you can avoid it.

Palette	The Vibe	Best In	Pair It With	Watch Out For
Gray + White	Calm and unfussy. The safest two tone there is, which is both the strength and the problem.	Open plans where the dining area flows into other rooms.	Warm wood floors, black or brass fixtures, a textured rug.	Cool grays go flat and dreary in low light. Pick one that leans warm.
Navy + White	Formal without trying. Makes trim work look expensive.	Tall ceilings and rooms with real molding to show off.	Gold mirrors, herringbone floors, cream upholstery.	Navy eats light. Without a big window it turns cave-like by dinner.
Sage Green + White	Restful and a little old fashioned. Reads as color without shouting.	Rooms with a garden view or lots of afternoon light.	Antique wood, black metal lighting, a patterned rug.	Bright greens turn minty under warm bulbs. Go muted and dusty.
Deep Red + White	Warm and appetite-friendly. Small rooms feel intentional instead of cramped.	Older homes and small, closed-off formal dining rooms.	Warm oak floors, white spindle chairs, an oil painting or two.	It reads seasonal if everything else in the room is cool toned.
Mustard + White	Golden and a bit theatrical. Candlelight loves it.	Rooms that already have ornate trim to justify the drama.	Crystal or candle-style lighting, cream or burgundy seating.	Too much gold stops looking rich and starts looking like a hotel lobby.
Tan + White	Quiet and forgiving. Nothing competes with the table.	Rooms doing double duty for homework, mail, and dinner.	A dark wood table, tufted upholstery, layered rugs.	Without texture it’s just brown. Fabric and pattern do the saving.
Dark Brown + White	Moody and enveloping. Feels like a room built for long dinners.	Spaces with coffered ceilings or heavy white trim to break it up.	Leather chairs, a hide rug, warm bulbs on a dimmer.	Skip it under low ceilings. The dark presses down on the room.
Blue Gray + White	Breezy and casual. The most relaxed pairing on this list.	Sunny rooms and eat-in spaces off the kitchen.	Weathered wood, woven pendants, linen curtains.	Easy to tip into full nautical theme. Keep the accessories quiet.

Where To Split The Wall – The color choice gets most of the attention, but the split line matters just as much. A standard chair rail lands around 32 to 36 inches, which suits rooms with normal 8 foot ceilings and keeps the darker color grounded at the bottom.

Do you have taller ceilings? Push the wainscoting up to two thirds of the wall height instead. It sounds like a small change. It completely changes the proportion of the room, and it’s why some two tone dining rooms look custom and others look like a builder special.

One last thing, paint a poster board, not the wall. Tape it up and look at it at breakfast and again at 8pm. Dining rooms get used after dark more than any other room in the house, and a color that sings at noon can go muddy the second the lamps come on.

This Contemporary dining room goes for two-tone walls that transcend not only color, but even texture and finish. Dark mahogany brown trims line the corners, cornices and baseboards of the walls, enclosing beige textile panels in between. The chevron-patterned warm wood parquet floors give this setting a tropical feel and is a great accent to the Contemporary profile of the table and upholstered chairs, as well as the hanging lampshade candelabra at the center.

This dining room looks like it came straight out of a Nantucket cottage. Tall picture windows line its hexagonal perimeter, matched with an extensive skylight that invites in as much sunlight and scenery as possible. An ornate cornice runs all around the skylight and highlights the central chandelier in crystal and black metal. The interiors are done in pale beige tones, with the grey-green window frames as an accent. One neutral tone and one cool tone are a good base for accommodating the Classic style furnishings in black and white textile, white painted wood, polished wood, and brushed leather. Two-tone room ideas, such as the one above, that utilize curtains to match the paint colors can create a visually interesting design.

This Classical style dining room opts for reddish dark brown walls with white paneled wainscoting below and matching white doors and windows. The wall color matches with the table’s polished redwood surface. The rest of the table as well as the chairs are in a rusticated white wood, placed at the center of the room over a rope area rug and warm wood strip flooring.

This Contemporary home, with its two tone white walls and ceilings paired with black door and window frames is a haven for smaller rustic elements. Dining rooms with French doors benefit from a plentiful amount of natural light which helps to lighten the mood.
The black and white scheme is a good place to use warm wood strip flooring, as well as a rustic style table set with chairs in weathered wood and woven rattan, and an unpolished metallic table top. To the side, a window seat is setup in the same white casework and black window framing. The whole setup is topped by four matching pendant lights in gold framing.

This Craftsman style dining room features yellowish wood for all the ceiling boards, door and window trims, and most notably, for the paneled wainscoting on the walls, underscoring the use of a lighter blue shade for the top portion of the walls. This scheme is a great backdrop to the dark wood finished table set sitting over a vintage area rug and topped with a crystal candelabra.

Going for more neutral tones albeit in different finishes, this dining room plays up the contrast between the pale grey travertine tile used for the flooring against the heavier grey shade of the rough stone tiles for the fireplace wall. All other walls and ceilings are in a pale white, with only the center recess in a medium grey. The neutrals used in this room provide a good base for the main focal point—the Acacia wood table with bench and upholstered seats sitting over a grey shag rug.

Providing a lighter contrast in the room, the white paneled wainscoting on the walls reaches up about three-fourths of the way, with openings to other rooms highlighted with carved architraves. The remaining wall space, as well as recesses on the ceiling, are done in an elegant light grey shade, contrasting well with the dark wood used for the flooring and the table set. An ornate chandelier hangs over the table, which is set over a woven rope carpet.

This luxe eclectic dining room relies heavily on its dark gold palette, with its gold painted ceilings and walls clad in a mirror-like gold paneling. Trims and other decorative panels are inlaid in a clean white finish, toning down the almost over the top qualities of the gold paneling, as well as the dark wooden table topped with drum chandelier and decorated with mismatched upholstered chairs. The floors are in a dark wooden finish, mirroring the dark gold tones used, and the table is underscored by a white and grey patterned rug.

This simple Contemporary dining room features a lot of clean lines with its white trims and paneled wainscoting done up over a warm grey wall tone. A large area rug in beige hexagons is base to a large dining set in dark wood with off-white colored chairs. The entire setup is surrounded by large double hung windows on both sides and topped by a modern style chandelier.

This Classic style dining room exudes a Contemporary feel with the use of royal blue as its base wall color, supported by a beige ceiling and clean white for its trims, paneled wainscoting and door and window framing. In particular, the large French window at the back frames the dark wood carved table with upholstered seats in grey, which is also framed at the front by a pair of rounded columns with carved pedestals. The table is topped by a Contemporary style glass chandelier.

This Classic dining room features an ornately carved table and display cabinet in a rich warm wood finish. The pale sea green used on the walls as well as the room’s tray ceiling give this room a touch of color, downplayed by the clean white lines of the trims and paneled wainscoting. A Classic style black metal chandelier hangs over the table, also supported by a patterned area rug over heavy grained wood plank flooring.

This Classic style dining room features tan-colored walls with paneled wainscoting and rectangular trims so that any décor or lighting on the wall is framed beautifully. The dark wood finish of the table matches the floor planks, while the light beige upholstery goes well with the off-white display cabinet and buffet table towards the back. A trio of ornate silver pendants hangs over the table.

This traditional style dining table is anything but boring with large swathes of the room done up in a lively sea blue color. The bright hue is muted by the ornate off-white cornices and low linear wainscoting done up to the level of the low, large picture windows. The only unique carved wood in this room are the plate rail and mantle over the fireplace done in a rich, warm wood, and the dining table also carved in the same Neoclassical style.
The heavy upholstered dining chairs are in an off-white tone with the larger end chairs in a deep blue textile. The floors play up the lively feeling of the room with bright warm wood parquet in a chevron pattern.

This small, traditional style dining table is given life through the use of dark blue walls accented by pristine white trims and paneled wainscoting, as well as the use of gold accents and the intricately patterned Persian carpet.

The oval table offers most advantages for conversation; the host and hostess sit in the middle of each side, opposite to each other. – Collinson & Lock Art Furnishers, Interior Decorators and Designers 1870-1900, Clive Edwards

The dining table itself is a simple oval-shaped number surrounded by white weathered wood chairs. Hanging over the table is a simple candelabra with gold chain, matching the gold gilded mirror and picture frames.

This Classic style dining table features a dull beige tones for its walls, made more interesting via the linearity of the white chair rail and rectangular trims. The muted walls are a good way to highlight the redwood plank flooring as well as the lighter wood used for the dining table. The chairs are in a weathered wood finish with studded off white upholstery. An ornate candelabra hangs over the dining table and is tethered to the ceiling where is it enhanced with a beautifully carved rosette.

This dining room may feature traditional profiles for its trims and furniture, but it goes with a more Contemporary shade and pattern of green for its wallpaper. The wallpaper, reaching about midway the wall is underscored by white paneled wainscoting that continues all along the window frames, architraves and ceiling coffers.
A modern style double chain pendant lamp hangs over the pale wood dining table that features fiberglass dining chairs and high-backed upholstered armchairs for the ends. Light colored wood plank flooring is a great base to the bold tones and styles used in this dining room.

This rustic style dining table features a dark, heavy-grained dining table, with leather upholstered dining chairs on each end, and topped with an antler-inspired hanging lamp with orbs on each end. The dark brown tone used for the walls and ceiling recesses, as well as the dark wood plank flooring, are balanced out by the plain white trims used for the ceiling coffers, fireplace mantelpiece, window framing and paneled wainscoting. To add a more rustic feel, an irregularly shaped animal hide throw rug was placed under the dining set.

This small yet resplendent Louis XIV style dining room features a lot of intricate furniture with its curved back upholstered dining chairs, carved stone-based dining table with round glass top and curvy hanging candelabra. The two portals leading to other living areas of the house are highlighted in white painted, intricately carved architraves. The same white finish is used for the cornices, as well as the paneled wainscoting all around the room. The wall and ceiling voids without trims are done in a dark mustard tone.

This highly ornate, Classic style dining room features walls in a textured deep blue, adding to the opulent characteristics lent to the space by its gold gilded mirrors and gold based hanging chandelier, wall sconces and table lamps. To add to the luxurious theme of the room, thick, solid white trims are added as baseboards, architraves and ceiling coffers.
The dining table, long enough for twelve users is in a polished dark wood finish and features high-backed leather upholstered chairs. The whole room is decked in heavy-grained wood plank flooring.

This tropical modern style features a lot of indoor plants, to go with the pale yellow tones of the walls, complemented by clean white wood planks used for the wainscoting, trims and recessed cupboard. Tropical teak wood was used for the heavy square dining table, with two pairs of rattan chairs and two pairs of magnolia-colored upholstered chairs. The whole dining set rests on an area rug in a grey and white pattern over light walnut wood floor planks.

This dining room goes for a beach cottage style feel, starting with the unpolished, fine-grained weathered wood finish used for the long dining table and buffet table behind it. Cool blue-grey tones create linear patterns on the wallpaper, framed by clean white cornices and paneled wainscoting. The floors also feature thick planks of a darker weathered wood finish, while the French windows at the end look out onto the beach.

Modern accents are included in the bell jar pendant lamp and matching lampshades on the buffet table. When searching for two tone dining room ideas its important to carefully select paint colors so the design is cohesive. White is a popular choice for base wainscoting that can match any other color with elegant results.

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