A photo of a two tone lacquer wardrobe looks convincing on screen, and the rate on one quotation looks sharper than the next. Neither tells you what will arrive on site. When wardrobes are made to measure, the difference between suppliers surfaces later: in a colour break along a door edge, in a carcass that no longer squares into the alcove, in a panel that has to go back to the factory for re-spraying. Comparing samples and proposals properly is how that risk is removed before a deposit is paid.
Below is the working method we apply to two tone lacquer wardrobes on villa and apartment projects, and the questions worth putting to any manufacturer you are evaluating.
Why two tone lacquer needs a different kind of sample
A lacquered wardrobe is a finish decision more than a board decision. Panels are coated, not laminated, so colour depth and sheen depend on primer, topcoat and polishing passes. With two tone work, that doubles: you are judging a light field and a dark field side by side, and a sample that shows only one of them tells you almost nothing.
Ask for a sample that carries the actual combination you have specified: both colours, the transition between them, and an edge rather than a flat cut-off. Flat colour chips understate how much a lacquered surface reflects, which is precisely where two tone designs succeed or look cheap.
What to ask the sample to prove
- Both colours together. Request a paired sample, or a corner sample where the light and dark panels meet. Judge it in daylight and again under the warm lighting the room will actually use, and ask for the sample to come from the same batch the order will run from.
- Sheen, not just hue. Confirm whether your two tone scheme mixes a high gloss field with a matte field, or holds one sheen across both colours. Run a hand across the sample: a mismatched sheen is visible from across a bedroom long before a slight colour deviation is.
- A finished edge. The coating build and radius on the door edge show how the panel was sprayed and finished. Thin, under-built edges telegraph across the whole door once light runs along them.
- A hardware sample with it. Handles, hinges and any integrated lighting sit against the lacquer, so ask to see the finish beside the actual fittings rather than trusting a render.
- A written record on the sample. Note the colour code, panel code and finish description on the back, and keep the signed sample as your acceptance reference. Two tone schemes are the easiest finish to argue about late and the easiest to settle with a physical reference.
How a two tone scheme carries into the rest of the joinery
Our product catalogue lists the lacquer wardrobe range alongside matte and high gloss alternatives, so the sample stage is also where you decide whether the same pairing should be carried through to the two tone sliding door wardrobes in the hallway and the cabinetry in other rooms. Decide this before ordering samples, not after: matching a second product line to a colour already in production is straightforward, while matching it after the first order has shipped means starting a fresh colour match against a finish that is already installed.
Reading a proposal line by line
Made-to-measure wardrobe proposals are usually priced per linear metre or per set, and the number alone compares nothing. Set the quotations side by side and check the items that actually drive cost and end result.
- What the price covers. Does it include scribing to an out-of-plumb wall, a top panel to ceiling, kick detailing and internal fittings? A lower figure often means those items appear later as extras.
- How dimensions were taken. Confirm whether the measurement came from a site survey with levels and laser, or from a drawing. Lacquered built-ins are fitted against walls and floors that are rarely square; a survey, not a floor plan, is what makes the reveal even.
- The carcass and the front. Two tone is usually a door and panel decision. Ask which board and edge treatment the cabinet body uses, and whether the interior finish matches what you were shown.
- Hardware specification. Hinge brand and soft-close type, drawer runners, and any lighting transformer. Ask whether these are included or allowated.
- Internal layout as a drawing. A wardrobe priced without an internal elevation will be re-priced once hanging heights, drawers and shelving are actually specified.
- Delivery and handover terms. For an overseas order, clarify who handles freight, customs paperwork, and delivery to floor. It changes the real comparison between two proposals more than the unit rate does.
A supplier running design, production and delivery under one roof makes that comparison shorter. The workflow on our turnkey solutions page runs from brief and design through production, logistics and installation, so the same drawings govern both the sample and the delivered units.
Telling buildable two tone work from a drawing that only looks good
Two tone lacquer goes wrong most often at the transition between the two fields, and a proposal exposes the risk in two places. First, in the drawings: if the design shows a vertical split, it should also state how the doors align and how the gap between them is set, because a split running across two separate doors becomes a registration problem you live with permanently. Where the split sits inside one door, it should be drawn as a single panel.
Second, in the delivery terms. Panels for a two tone run should come from one batch so that colour and sheen do not drift between pieces. If a proposal splits the order across shipments or factories, ask for the reason in writing before signing.
Questions worth sending to every supplier
- How many coating passes are applied to the lacquer, and what is the curing method?
- Can you produce both colours in the same batch, so sheen and colour match across the run?
- Which sample is signed and returned as the acceptance standard?
- Who carries the risk of damage in transit, and how are replacement panels handled?
- What is the process if a panel arrives out of colour match — re-spray on site or replacement from the factory?
Ask the same questions in writing, and read the answers rather than the tone of them. A supplier who sets out the coating process, confirms the acceptance sample and states how replacements are handled has almost certainly produced two tone work before. One who answers in general terms is leaving you to find the gaps at your own cost.
If you are specifying two tone lacquer wardrobes for a villa or apartment project, send us the room dimensions and the colour direction you are working to. We will return a sample carrying both finishes and a proposal itemised down to hardware, so the piece you approve and the piece you receive match.