Oddly enough it seems nobody talked about the fact you can't see you're logged in, as well as if you have new messages, apart if you're on the front page (but still, you can't see your username).
Also, if you close a TWHL window in which you're writing something, there wouldn't be any confirmation message.
When it comes to the design, a modern style of design I like is like the one of this bank:
http://www.halifax.co.uk/You might want to kill me since it looks like I'm the only person loving this website's design, but it's neat, responsive, sober, perfectly adjusted :3
However, I think I prefer the current design for the HL theme. It's orange and retro, and I find it really more pleasant to use than modern responsive/bright websites like you one you posted.