[Shelley_c]

Going for a simple look is always a good thing in my books. But to sway away from the layout, it's the colours and the way you have implimented them that i find to be an eyesore. Too much green in short. From a person who has developed a new fondness of green I don't really mind the colour that much but over using the colours (green in this case) can make a style visually unsettling for the eyes. The green border/stroke is something i think you should change and opt for another colour.

Instead of surrounding everything in green try using other generic colours for the images. For example, the lastpost icon, re-colour it to a dark grey or black colour you will be surprised how much it will break out the index page. Again with the colour, change the forum status icons and change the colour so it highlights and at the same time breaks the green in the style. As it stands now there's too much green.

I suggest changing the colour for the buttons from the green to a dark grey or black.