The black maybe abit plain but didn't want to over do it. May add some pattern and add a gradient to blend/fade it in. I have also added a rotating banner on the right that changes each time page loads/refreshes. This may improve the "plainness"
I have tired modifiying the width to 75% but this affects the news feeds. I like the banner on the left but due to the size this prevents me reducing the overall width of the page.
The old one was red but this one is much cleaner. Thanks for the feedback. Looking at adding more content and optimizing for search engines. Thanks