I think you are on the right track. Turquoise or Robin's egg blue would work.

I think light grey would be nice and it is feminine/masculine

Thanks! I am the OP. I also want to say that I am not fond of the faux wood parquet linoleum, and I am considering putting in new linoleum at our expense. The black and white Tarkett Hekto is a favorite, if anyone has any ideas about that as well.

I was also thinking a light grey. it's right on era with the white, yellow, & some black accessories. A black & white flooring would definitely improve things.

decide your flooring first, then select a very pale color of a color from the flooring. Consider the colors which make up the flooring since it should contain a pallet of what made it up. Let the yellow border be the pop. and put selected yellow items as accents. you'll love it. if you kept the flooring I'd suggest a burnt organe very pale with sunflower color like accents.

I really like the idea of a super soft gray, especially if you replace the flooring with that black and white linoleum.

I would make it fun. A black and white floor with some bright and funky colors would be awesome. Or, you could go 1950's diner in there.

I honestly think that we would have to know your family personality before really being able to suggest things seriously. Are you guys serious, fun loving, eclectic, modern, etc...

Go in with you eyes open....Black and White floors are HARD to keep clean. I have them in my kitchen...look good, maintenance constant!

"...was thinking turquoise or mint on the walls, but maybe something with more punch?"

Had to laugh at something with more punch than turquoise.

It's hard to tell from the photo if there's natural light. We've had paint in the gray range (it's now a gray green) in the kitchen for a long time, and it's really nice. Soothing.

Think about painting (porch paint) your current lino floor. You can mix it into many colors that will compliment whatever color you chose for the rest of the kitchen. I'd go with white and/or a light dove gray and use curtains and other items to bring color into the kitchen.

Check the Retro Renovation blog for inspiration and sourcing.

I like the idea of robin's egg blue or a lighter turquoise. However if hubby nixes it, some shade of yellow would work. I don't think you will be happy with grey.

Love the gray idea, except I'm pretty set on that for the living room and dining room that is adjacent to the kitchen. We wanted to stay neutral in those areas because we have a lot of brightly colored art and those rooms are quite large.

@Suzee-lol, I know...I was thinking something with more punch than a really light, faded turquoise or mint. Should have clarified.

@Sisterfunkhaus-we are probably fun-loving and mid-century modern/eclectic. We like bold colors, things that are cheerful. This is a fairly good example-

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/la/house-tours/jeffrey-and-josephs-garage-sale-chic-house-tour-106161

Agreed on the upkeep of B & W floors, I've had them before. The possible saving grace of the Hekto is that it also has some gray and the squares are smaller.

Painting the floor is a great idea and I will check to see if the landlord will allow it. I like the idea of a neutral floor and wall color but I don't know another way to do it with decent linoleum other than B & W, and I love the classic/vintage feel of that design.

we're about to redo our 1950s kitchen...we're fans of aqua/turquoise accents with grey walls. you could do a warm grey if you end up keeping the floors (think abalone or silver fox)

Vintage map green or robin's egg blue! I have an "owl gray" room with yellow accents, I love it- but you might want a little more pop for the kitchen.

I'd consider mid-tones for the floor. I had a white kitchen floor and it was the very devil to keep clean (and black would be similar, I suspect).

You could do BOTH your kitchen and dining room in greys, if you chose quite different shades.

I would stick with gray walls and bring in the "punch" your looking for with art work, accessories, dishes, maybe painted chairs, etc. I think turquoise is a great color but I would tire of it on walls.

I would absolutely go with a strong color on the walls. If you go wishy-washy, it will just fade into the floor and the white appliances. Maybe think about BM Cool Aqua 2056-40. It's a great "fun" turquoise color. Or if you'd like something a little more neutral, you may want to consider BM Galveston Gray AC-27. It's a mid-darker gray color to provide some contrast. Good luck!

I live in a home from the 1950s and I painted my kitchen/dining area with a bright turquoise on several walls and a lighter turquoise on the other walls. The corners where the two colors meet looks wonderful. It turned out really well and I receive compliments all the time.

I would go with "bank vault" it is a grey color from Dunn Edwards.
I always introduce grey to clients (when appropriate) and they get skeptical b/c it is different and unexpected, but they always end up loving the color.
Hope this helps :)
Good luck

PINK!!!

I can't see how much if any natural light you get, so I wonder if grey might turn the space into a cave. How about keeping the yellow and adding in pops of red (painting splashbacks; accessories, a rug and so on). You'd have to be careful that you don't wander into McDonald's territory, but done carefully it could subtly pick up the 50s vibe without being too 'Happy Days'

When we restored our 40's kitchen, we kept the cabinets white, painted the walls a medium green, and did the floors in black with a green accent stripe. The baseboards and trim are black too. The green was color matched from a 1941 Sherwin Williams catalog.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/srk1941/sets/72157621796438476/with/3750254820/

Found this slide show on House Beautiful of authentic '50s kitchens for inspiration, but I don't think I'd want to go this literal: http://www.housebeautiful.com/kitchens/kitchens-1950s-0609
I had a 1950s house with black and white floors and they were gorgeous except that as wildwildrice said, they are really high maintenance so invest in a Swiffer Wet Mop (or similar) and keep it handy! I like the idea of a nod towards '50s colors (turquoise was all the rage) but keeping it softer. I love Benjamin Moore's Paradiso (717), but you could go lighter (Fantasy Blue 716 or In Your Eyes 715) and you'd be closer to pale gray without being plain gray -- a compromise with your husband who is not liking anything that seems girly? Then you could add deeper aqua colors in accents -- and yellows -- even reds -- to give it a true 50's vibe, without necessarily going all out kitchy, unless that's your thing. I had a ball collecting retro salt and pepper shakers on eBay at one point -- could make a fun addition? It is a great space - most of all, enjoy yourselves!

I would actually paint your cabinets a light gray, white countertops and do a soft cream or little darker gray than what your cabinets would be.

I love the yellow and was also thinking of light grey. I'm also thinking that some black could be useful.

I live in a 1952 house and have the original rose and turquoise bathroom, complete with turquoise tub. We painted the walls (the parts that aren't tiled pink) and cabinet doors white and used black on all of the trim. Black rugs, towels and shower curtain keeps the color scheme from being overly "girlie". I think the same idea could work in your kitchen.

Would love to see some "after" photos!

along turquoise family is good...like the Robin's egg blue,aqua etc...Good luck and don't worry it's just paint you can always change them when you are not truly happy with it.

love this! how about a 50s retro palette of BM barren plain 2111-60 (grey), BM tranquil blue 2051-50 (med. turquoise), BM pale avocado 2146-40, and BM harvest moon 2167-30 (med. avocado green). I would also paint the floors with porch paint, instead of replacing the linoleum.

Appeasing your husband in keeping it in line with not being too feminine or pastel flooded, consider a softer Robins Egg blue for the walls. Example would be Sherwin Williams 'Grandview' or Valspar's 'Glass Green'. Burnt orange (Valspar's 'Faded Clay' is a good color to go off of), cream and a deep brown-almost black for accents.

These colors work amazingly well with each other and offer a great non-gender feel while still having that fantastic Retro 'pop'. Adding the black and white flooring would make it that much more. Good luck!

Wow, replacing that flooring opens your options right up.

White with black (and maybe grey) with some pops of red could look really good.

I would make the wall where the light is hanging an accent wall and put up a retro/modern pattern wallpaper—something that has green yellow and gray in it maybe. Then paint the other walls a shade of gray from the accent wall.

grey is a great option, I live in a retro home and all my walls are varying shades of grey. The kitchen also has tiffany blue ceilins and white trim it may sound weird but i get lots of positive feedback,black and white floorswould be great too! Good luck,btw my kitchen color is "wet cement" it may seem dark but the first time around I painted a lighter version an it just felt flat.

i meant ceilings, my keyboard has sticky keys sry;)

i agree that solid black & white flooring is a nightmare to keep clean, but my new apt. has more of an old school b&w linoleum that has subtle gray/brown/blue-ish flecks throughout that totally hide the dirt while still giving that classic vibe... i LOVE them! im a big fan of pale olive green- it would look nice w the yellow trim & also w the grays in the other rooms. i think an olive tone is a lot more sophisticated than mint which always looks too juvenile on the wall...
& hooray for landlords who let ppl paint! :)

Even though you are aiming for a vintage 50s look, I think I would take a trick from Victorian houses and paint a nice grey for the walls, but do small details in bright, fun colors. Looks like you already have yellow scalloping - you could add in the aforementioned turquoise and another dark grey or dark green. Maybe some retro cabinet pulls in colors too.

1. What do you have going on in the adjoining rooms? If you have a color, you could do a couple of shades darker or lighter in the kitchen. But first the floor should also be a color that complements what you have in the rest of the apartment. You have dark wood floors, so I'd stay away from anything that isn't fairly classic.

2. Dark gray linoleum or porch paint would go well with the dark wood floors. Then light gray walls. But only if this complements the adjoining rooms.

3. Two great BM colors that are fabulous for hiding dirt: Pismo Dunes and Feather Down.

I seriously recommend staying within a neutral color palette UNLESS you know for sure you can live with a particular color over several years.

My kitchen is also a 50s ranch kitchen, and when we remodeled it we found that it used to be the following colors: yellow (modern equiv = jasper yellow/BM), light mint green (modern equiv = limesickle/BM), dark mint green (modern equiv = fernwood green/BM) and bubble gum pink (sorry we didn't match this one). Hope this helps!

Grey looks wonderful with yellow so I'm on the grey team.

For other pastel options, the Martha Stewart line at home depot has got pretty colors that would fit in with this kitchen.

I say seafoam green (a really light one, not obnoxiously seafoam green) with an accent wall or accent stripe of a cheery, peachy orange. I think that'd compliment the flooring & the other, more warm colors I'm seeing in the pics. Good luck!

@srk1941 - Fabulous kitchen! Very interesting photos, especially of the old Sherwin Williams and Armstrong products.

I also like the dove gray but with pink accessories.

yellow, torquoise and red.

i have a 50's kitchen w/ black/white floors. it seemed like a good idea ans "authentic" but unless you like mopping everyday, think of keeping the parquet. i went on strike once for a week and it was not pretty.
having said that, i think a pale yellow paint would be nice to the period. :)

Grew up in the 50's and I remember my Mom painting the cabinet doors Bright Turquoise in an otherwise white kitchen. The lino was probably one of those speckled white/greys/black that I do not remember. I liked it then...

I live in a home built in the late 50's and have remodeled the kitchen slightly. I have light gray floors, white cabinets w/dark gray granite counter tops. I really like it and after 8 years still haven't gotten tired of it. First, I painted the walls a standard "apartment white" - I hated it. Next, I tried a "sand colored" beige - still hated it. I was going for a neutrtal color because it is connected to the living room and didn't want it to look funny when I decorate for the holidays. I was afraid to paint it gray - thought it might be too dark. Turns out I should have used gray from the start. It is still neutral and can be dressed up/down. I also used turquoise as an accent color - I love it!! If you find the right shade of gray (depends on the lighting) I think you will love it too.