I'd embrace the bisque appliances and go from there. I don't get the idea that it is stainless steel or nothing. Especially in a beach house, I would want to be more relaxed and less industrial. I think you can do your backsplash in sand, blue and green and have a nice contrast to the cream cabs. Sounds like a fun project to me!
Diane

I would remove the decals TODAY, then paint the cabinets white. Then I would look at the bisque appliances and decide whether I could live with them or spray paint them white with appliance paint. Beadboard on the ceiling is possible - I think - without knocking down the ceiling plaster. Check into applying quarter-inch drywall or a similar base to the ceiling studs and then attaching the beadboard to that. When all that is done, replace the vinyl flooring.

You didn't mention whether this remodel will be experienced DIY, just starting DIY or contractor-led. I like powermuffin's idea of a color scheme of sand, blue and green.

When we bought our house, we tore out the new kitchen and put a new one in. At first, I thought stainless steel was necessary because that is pretty much all you see in magazines anymore. I worried about keeping them handprint-free and eventually I decided that since I picked creamy colored maple cabinets, I should pick bisque appliances. We bought ours slightly used from Craigslist (the microwave range, dishwasher, and stove were less than a year old and the fridge was 5 years old) all bisque, Kenmore brand. Only 600-800 bucks in total!

Even new, bisque is cheaper than stainless.

Anyway, all that being said, I say go for bisque. But I think you should paint your cabinets a cream if you do that. Otherwise the bisque against the white may not look so hot.

Do the cabinets have to be a shade of white? How about a soft gray or a sage green. Taupe, perhaps. Or, maybe the uppers in a cream and lowers to contrast.
Pictures would help.

Stainless appliances are overrated. They are fingerprint magnets...I find that they make great appliances in homes where someone cleans at least once a day...not my house!

Bisque will look just fine as long as you use the colour scheme you have proposed as have others.

I agree...stick with the bisque appliances. Then maybe pickle those cabinets in a sand color and like mentioned before, pull in a pale blue/aqua for the walls and backsplash.

Could you maybe go with a slightly off white cabinet that would be a little lighter than the appliances? Then you could stick with your original color scheme but just not stark white. I think it would be homey and beautiful.

As an extreme Diyer, I'm going to offer a little unsolicited advice. I know when you said you "don't know where to start" you are speaking from a design standpoint, but from a remodeling standpoint there is a very good reason to do things in a certain order. I would start from the top (ceiling) and work my way down. Anything you do above has the potential for messing up what's below. I love the idea of the beadboard ceiling and it would not be that difficult to cover your current textured ceiling. If this is the direction you want to go, I'd definitely do that ceiling first.

I just got finished posting on shesharee's thread about painting oak cabs with white appliances. Go over there and take a look at Janinwisconsin's pic of her kitchen with bisque appliances. Cabs are a beautiful cream that blends beautifully with the bisque. Stick with the bisque if the appliances are in good shape. Look at Behr's Vermont Cream. I'm sure there is a paint that is close to the bisque. As for the backsplah, a beautiful glass tile in blue would be beautiful. A little inspiration to get you started:
{{!gwi}}

I would embrace the Bisque and do a soft color for the cabinets to add some pizazz to the space. Maybe even do uppers and lowers different tones.

What do those Mediterranean '70s tiles look like? They could be the starting point for a great color scheme and or maybe they have to go.