Would it be possible to allow users to set their own preferences for how the forum looks? Or at least give a few themes people could pick from? The current color scheme is pretty ugly in my opinion. There are also usability issues: as Vansmack points out, it's hard to see the difference in shades when you're filling out forms or pressing buttons in the account settings. And as Darth and I have mentioned, the quote blocks are jarring. I do welcome all the options updating the server back-end brought, though.
I'll reiterate how much I hate the side bars and general look of the new forum. The old one was so clean and this one just seems messy and not well thought out in terms of design. To me everything about the redesign of the 9:30 site seems like it was done by throwing 50 things at a wall and all of them stuck. There's an elegance in simplicity.