First thread design. C&C wanted!

Too much empty space at the bottom
And the Gradient through out the whole thread.. honestly i don't like it :P
Could be wider then just 600 something pixels.
Good first attempt though, gotta be honest my first was worse xD
You'll get better trust me :)

yeah, I totally agree. I think I'm gonna stick to the templates.

You'll learn from templates but you'll never learn to be creative from them
Flat designs are a good way to go and slowly get into the Gradients, Drop shadows, and all the other things.
For some flat colors you may want this site can help you: http://flatuicolors.com/
Best of luck!