if anyone has suggestions on what better colors might be that are somewhat neutral...
For a sense of a neutral color but with more liveliness than grey shades, try some dark, rich colors. On my pages, I use a deep blue for the background, which gives a neutral feel to my eye. Deep blues, browns, and even a very dark indigo or green can work for this, but avoid redder colors. I also use a very pale yellow as a highlight color instead of stark white, but any bright slightly tinged off-white can work well.
I do not care for the new layouts I have seen. Some are simply too busy, and others have space issues. Having the information box on the side, as yours does, means that the entire left side is wasted blank space as you scroll down the page. I prefer the information box to be at the top to avoid this problem. I would like to find a style like my current (Generator), but a bit more customizable.
Add a little color...
For a sense of a neutral color but with more liveliness than grey shades, try some dark, rich colors. On my pages, I use a deep blue for the background, which gives a neutral feel to my eye. Deep blues, browns, and even a very dark indigo or green can work for this, but avoid redder colors. I also use a very pale yellow as a highlight color instead of stark white, but any bright slightly tinged off-white can work well.
I do not care for the new layouts I have seen. Some are simply too busy, and others have space issues. Having the information box on the side, as yours does, means that the entire left side is wasted blank space as you scroll down the page. I prefer the information box to be at the top to avoid this problem. I would like to find a style like my current (Generator), but a bit more customizable.