I think you know your kitchen and your vision.

When I started my kitchen I wanted not different uppers and lowers but 3 different colors. One wall was a natural wood, the opposite wall painted red and the breakfast area at the end and the pantry coming off the breakfast area in a third color.

Every single  and I mean "every single"  person I described it to said "isn't that too much?". The cabinet maker couldn't wrap his mind around it and had to do 5 sets of plans before he got it all right. Even after that, he couldn't follow his own plans and would only do and install one color at a time. As a result my small galley kitchen took MONTHS for the cabinets and adjustments to them. (...with all the other work held up by them.)

Now that it's finished I think it's glorious and everyone is saying "Oh! That's what you had in mind." And I think it has a lot of personality and keeps the eye moving so the space doesn't seem so small.

Someone here has some fabulous custom cabinets that are actually constructed of two different woods laid out in graphic designs. They're not the mood I'd ever pick but they're spectacular nonetheless and I can't imagine they won't really impress buyers should they ever be willing to let that kitchen go.

You can always get a set of plans and color them in.

Page through this thread to see the spectacular multi-colored cabs. Then make your husband take a look at them too.

I also think the Home Depot near me in SoCal has a demo of cabs with different color uppers and lowers. Check out one near you and see if they have it set up or in pictures.

Imrainey ~ did you forget to link the thread ??

We are planning on doing a darker cocoa stain on the bottom cabinets and a creamy color (linen) on the top cabinets. I've seen it a lot and I love it! If I had a bigger kitchen, I would do the island in a different color like green or red or black. It's hard to picture but when you actually see it in a showroom it looks really pretty.

I have a 2 tone and love it. Can see some of my pictures on my other forums. Just type in iwantakitchen in search box and then click on the ones about the pinkish tint countertops.
2 tone in my opinion is hard to work with but just may be me because I know nothing about color or decorating so I am so stuck on the backsplash. I did get great suggestions here though and considering them.

I think that the size of your kitchen matters in this decision also. Having different colors lower and upper visually cuts your space in two. In a small space, it would not flow easily but be jarring. Having both upper and lower cabs ( a full piece) in different colors from the rest is more visually fluid and may be an option in a small space.

That said, I LOVE different cabs colors in a kitchen. I think it makes it interesting. I have three--perimeter color is medium to dark cherry, hutch is dark dark brown cherry and island is cream. They each look like a separate piece of furniture but they easily flow together.

There was a thread on this a few wks ago.
I posted a couple pics, so did a few other people.
I love the idea, but decided it probably wouldn't work for me because of my white appliances.

Here is a link that might be useful: cabinets

I have a very large kitchen and I have two different colors, but they aren't top and bottom. I have Canac Cellin Monaco honey-lacquered bird's eye maple for my main cabinets. On the 100" long Island I have Canac Polo Cherry espresso (very dark brown). It looks great, particularly with the two different granites. Absolute black granite was used with the Bird's Eye Maple and River Gold Granite was used above the Canac Polo cherry espresso. It is a great combination.

On the far side of the kitchen I also used the Polo espresso for a pantry cabinet and for a desk with cabinets above. The bird's eye maple done all around would have been too much of a good thing and also much more expensive.

Greg

I did forget to put the link in.

Here is a link that might be useful: multi-colored wood cabinets

We are doing that also. All the upper cabs will be in Oyster (glazed off white) and the lower cabs will be in Cinnamon (a glazed medium cherry). We are doing a big u shape so no island. The wood hood and the two lower cabs that are flanking the range are in Oyster too. We are having our BlueStar range painted off white to tie it all together making it the focal point. The wall with our pantry, refrigerator and wall ovens will be the Cinnamon color. No white there.

We decided to do this because of our dogs being in the kitchen alot and I don't want to worry about chipping and dirt showing on the lower cabs.