What do you think of the stripped back look? I decided that during the course of developing my website I had some how got a bit carried away with making it pretty. Nothing wrong with that. But, it has become bloated and a little bug-ridden. This meant it loaded slowly and not always successfully. All factors that would ruin my efforts with SEO. So I took all my clothes off and started again. OK not literally, but yes I have removed a lot of the unnecessary and whilst it might look more plan. In my eyes at least, it is much improved.
You can decide for yourself of course.