Please, be gentle, I'm an old man :)

[JacquiiDesigns]

My critique is all about branding.

Your style is nice enough. It's a bit dark and a bit bland for my liking though. Perhaps taking the navy blue and pairing it with a more softer shade of blue would give the feel of "Kentucky bluegrass" or some such. Most importantly though - I note your forum has the lovely domain "LivingInKentucky.com" --- However, there's nothing about the website style that overtly or otherwise says anything "Kentucky"

I'm also not really understanding the film-related images you have in the header and the background. I do not see how these images helps promote "Kentucky" -- it's quite odd really.

My suggestion: If you want to capture your Kentucky audience - I'd suggest you rebrand your forum - at minimal making your logo and forum index icons related to the subject matter

A design concept such as...



...but more sophisticated styling and obviously related to Kentucky ... would do wonders for your niche.

HTH,

J.