Dark grey or off-white. That light grey is just raging war with the green links.
Try toying around with
this. Spin the color wheel a few times. You might find the perfect shade and scheme, you might waste your time.
The horizontal lines are a bit overpowering. Sometimes
being subtle makes a better statement than being bold.
Now, before you go, read this:
http://thinksimplenow.com/happiness/criticism/
When you ask for citrus and somebody gives you lemons, don't complain about how sour they are. Make lemonade. You asked for feedback, and that's what you got. So what if you were directed to a template? Give it a look. See if the template in question has design elements that would improve your own site, like toning down those horizontal lines.