A near-white very similar to the first coat of white you have up there now would be fine. Or- Try a yellow a couple shades lighter than the countertop tile on a foamcore board. Have you considered painting the brown grout with a white grout paint?

Thanks. A light yellow for the wall sounds good. I will look into painting the grout - I did not realize that's an option.

What colors are in the adjoining family room? If you are eventually going to replace the tile, what color would the new countertop be? These could be factored into your choice of wall color.

Here are some more photos of adjoining rooms to kitchen..

I thinking a very light sage green would look super in the entire space. [https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~75311[(https://www.houzz.com/photos/kitchen-traditional-kitchen-boston-phvw-vp~75311)

since you have white cabinets and might change the grout to white, as well, I would go ahead and paint the fireplace a nice glossy white and perhaps put a beautiful large green white and tan painting above the fireplace. I really like this three piece abstract from Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/wall26-Canvas-Abstract-Painting-Stretched/dp/B075GL7B68/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1512424031&sr=8-2&keywords=Green+white+tan+painting

Your counters don’t bother me at all. I can understand your wish to update…but in the meantime… the counter tile wraps around, meeting the lower white cabinets. I would find a paint match of the tile and paint all bottom cabinets that color. Often when you blend in a color, it isn’t as annoying as when it stands out.

For walls? I love this with your counters: B.M. Mt Rainier Gray.