Love these original cabinets and love the counter even more. I'd stick with white as it shows off the blue in the counters. But you may want to use this example if you wanted to paint them blue. Keep the walls white and the red banquette and it would be lovely:

http://www.thekitchn.com/thekitchn/kitchen-tour-sasha-and-michaels-charming-portland-kitchen-138327

I'd stay white!

Maybe I'd paint the walls a light grey - Benjamin Moore's Beacon Grey might be a choice.
Like this, I feel there's too much white and other bright colours making the colour scheme appear somewhat random to me.

I'd stay white, too! Love it! So bright and fun with the red and baby blue!

I'd keep them white

Turquoise cabinets and light gray walls would look fab!!!!!

Grey would definitely complement those colors, whether on the cabinets or the walls.

The colors in the artwork and banquette fabric seem to be fighting each other though.

I'd either go very light grey on the walls *and* open shelving, and a slightly darker grey on the cabinets, or paint everything, the walls and the cabinets and the shelves, in one nice bright white (a cooler white). I feel like all of them being slightly different shades throws off the feeling in the room a little.
This is a great article on white paint: http://10rooms.blogspot.com/2011/05/getting-white-right.html
She also has lots of interesting advice about colors in general

I'd go grey on the walls, maybe something light and silver-y, and then go with something a shade darker or so on the cabinets. I'm with your husband - the tile is fun!

These are truly an "after" photo. Keep them white, think about changing the pulls and bench upholstery to another color if you need a change.

i think this color is perfect color to kitchen cabinets. i like it. its a perfect color for a beautiful kitchen

thanks
www.aaadistributor.com

That is the kind of counters I dream of. You have a lovely kitchen. I would stick with white cabinets, so that your reds and blues are what catch the eye.

I saw this picture in a slide show the other day and loved the scheme:
http://images.meredith.com/bhg/images/2010/12/550_100874548.jpg
It has baby blue walls, white cabinets, grey countertop with red accents. I think you could get away with painting the walls blue and leaving the cabinets white, or vice versa. But it's easier to paint the walls than it is to paint the cabinets, so I'd try that first. And sorry but I'd lose that painting above the bench, it's too dark for the rest of the room.

Maybe a white with a touch of blue on the walls. Id scrap that painting over the table though it looks odd in that cute retro kitchen!

I'd keep the cabinets white but change the knobs to a neutral steel/silver/nickel. To me, the red, white, and blue is a little too flag-ish. I would change the fabric on the banquette to something more neutral but in a pattern and then paint the walls a color from the new fabric.

I 100% agree with typwc above...... and I adore the link. Good luck. :)

Keep the white and pull some of the light blue on your back-splash into the rest of the kitchen. Maybe a small accent painted on a wall that adjoins the dining area?

The tile is wonderful and I wouldn't want to do anything that detracts from it. Keep the white! I also would lose the painting and change the bench upholstery to somthing with a lighter feel--red and white pattern?

Think fabric as well as paint, as a couple of others have mentioned. My own preference would be to paint the walls pale blue, keep the cabinets white, and add fabric (cushions and window treatment) that introduced bits of more colors to the red, white, and blue scheme.

I agree with ek76--keep the cabinets, but get new hardware and change the banquette.

Gray. Two shades, as recommended above.

I see this space in a couple ways.

Walls, cabinets and base of the banquette in the turquoise. Replace the pulls.

Or carry the red from the banquette onto the cabinets and the base of the banquette as well. Turquoise on the walls and new pulls.

If you opt to keep the cabinets white, then put the turquoise on the walls.

Whichever you do, I think the space deserves some great pillows and/or window treatments with a fabulous pattern/patterns (with white and a number of other colors combined). Perhaps a large geometric combined with a tighter allover pattern --- And a great rug.

Stay away from the grey. Unless you have an amazing eye and feel comfortable in finding THE grey, I fear it will just come out blah. This coming from someone who loooves an amazing neutral.

If you were to replace anything in the kitchen, my vote is the floor.

Best of luck to you!! Don't be shy!

Also! I agree with the comment above..if you keep the cabinets white, change out the solid red banquette.

I like typewc's suggestion or keep it as is. It is so charming! Definitely remove the contemporary art from the space, though. It clashes.

Gray on the walls. Get rid of the artwork, doesn't fit the vintage-y theme.

Keep the cabinets white. But take the doors off the upper ones and line the insides with wallpaper that fits the overall vibe of the kitchen and pulls the blue and red together. Also, get or make some cafe curtains with a fabric that pulls in the blue and red and get a vintage tablecloth - there are tons of vintage table linens with the kitschy blue and red thing going on. This will keep the solid red banquette covers from standing out so much.

Keep the cabinets white. Paint the walls a very very light blue that matches the turquoise accents. Grey would not look good in a this kitchen..it will strike a discordant note.

It looks like the walls are already a light grey, matching the top of the table? I would lose the art, the plant (?), and reorganize the items on the shelves above the banquette.

Fewer items on the shelves, such as going with only cookbooks, and 1 or 2 tins. Get a new plant that's lively and fresh. Look into some clear vases for the upper shelf perhaps, but keep in mind that less is more.

Also, rather than painting the cabinets, I think new pulls would be awesome. Perhaps a brushed nickel? Good luck! It's a neat space.

Honestly, I think it looks great as is. I like the white cabinets with those countertops. And it looks like the hardware is red. I think you have a good balance. If you can afford to redo the floors, I'd put in retro style checkered vinyl tiles. They should be pretty cheap and if you do red and white that would add so much fun vintage feel to the room.

Here's a link to a pic of a blue, red and white vintagey kitchen on flickr-- http://www.flickr.com/photos/bill_lim/3496082794/in/gallery-73181201@N00-72157623253605376/

I would paint the walls around the banquette a red of the same color to draw the eye up and make it more substantial. Accent with white on the shelves and keep cabinets white and change knobs.

I agree with the folks that say stay white - I think they work well in that kitchen. And, you can do a lot with everything else leaving them white!

* paint the shelves above the banquette red to match the upholstry
*leave the cabinets and housing white
*change the hardware to chrome/silver simple rectangular pulls rather than knobs (tie together the table edging and faucet and add some visual heft to them)
*paint the walls a smoky grey
*accent fruit bowl and odds n' sods in blue to reference the tile

cheap n' cheerful!
good luck!

wow - thanks, folks! The painting will come down and the stuff on the shelves needs to be moved anyway. We're in earthquake country, so removing the cabinet doors scares me a bit, but I love all the suggestions.

how about a pale yellow like that flowered tin on the shelf?

Your kitchen is adorable! I love the banquet seating and the tile. I think a light grey would look terrific with the color scheme- not too intrusive and more interesting than white.

I think a nice neutral red, or maybe a bluish red would look awesome. Leave the walls white and find a patterned fabric to match the blue tile. And accessorize with white objects.

I would ignore the blue, and pull the colors from the floor. I'd paint the walls the same gray as the floor, and the cabinets white. The blue tiles will then have a frame, and not look out of place.

LOVE the tile and how the blue pops against the white. I like the idea of silvery gray somewhere on the walls but it is lovely.

How about black for the bottom cabinets and a vintage sign or poster with the red or blue to help tie it together?

twypc ftw! awesome link!

Please get a red kitchenaid mixer to go on those adorable counters!

I'm with your husband - I love the tile counters.

I'd leave the cabinets white and paint the walls a pale yellow.

Very cute tiles and kitchen. I'd keep the cabinets white--nice and classic and they really help highlight the tile. As someone said, use red as your accent for your kitchen stuff. For the walls--I can see greys or yellows--keep it pale to help focus on the cute cabinets and tiles.

This is an adorable kitchen, even when you can afford a bigger renovation, I wouldn't change much here. I know you want to keep the red and blue, but in this setting I'd change the red to a sunny orange and relegate red and yellow to accent status. I'd either paint the walls a warm yellow and change the banquette upholstery to orange, or maybe a grey on the walls and orange upholstery. Leave the cabinets white and you're in business!

Leave it as-is.

I LOVE your kitchen! I'd kill for the tile! As a matter of fact, my boyfriend and I just saw a house for sale the other day that was kind of blah, but the kitchen looked like yours, and I told him I'd buy the house just for the dreamy kitchen!

Keep the cabinets white, the walls a pale blue, something like Farrow & Ball's Borrowed Light.

Bodum has cute red toasters that would go with your decor---
http://www.bodum.com/us/en-us/shop/detail/10709-294US/

I also say white cupboards and light gray walls. Remove/replace artwork above the bench. Find a really great photo of you and your husband and blow it up in black and white, or if you have a great color photo with a lot of blue sky, have the photo shop give it a "vintage" look. The artwork needs to be about 36" wide to look right and hang no higher than 6" above the bench! In other words, the lower the better.

Cute kitchen!

I like it as-is, I'd change the flooring and paint the walls.

Wow! In a tight little kitchen (compliment) like that, I'd go crazy with color. It would be the oddest room in the house. I can see lots of yellow and lime green, and orange, or maybe rust,just to tone it down a tiny little bit! Ok, so maybe I'm just "going thru a phase!"

light aqua walls, white cabinets

You kitchen is great. If it ain't broke, don't fix it. Just some curtains to tie together the blue and red and then some red kitchen accessories and you are good to go. Don't overthink this.

As many above I say go with grey walls. The cabinets aren't bad white so I would say leave them... maybe take some quarter round trim moulding and paint it a color, (my personal would be red, but you could go dark grey or navy blue) and frame a rectangle on the cabinet doors so it has a little dimension...