diff --git a/src/AllPlotWindow.cpp b/src/AllPlotWindow.cpp
index bd5deeb5d..eeca31f29 100644
--- a/src/AllPlotWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/AllPlotWindow.cpp
@@ -276,7 +276,8 @@ AllPlotWindow::AllPlotWindow(MainWindow *mainWindow) :
     fullPlot->setInstanceName("fullPlot");
     fullPlot->grid->enableY(false);
     QPalette def;
-    fullPlot->setCanvasBackground(def.color(QPalette::Window));
+    //fullPlot->setCanvasBackground(def.color(QPalette::Window));
+    fullPlot->setCanvasBackground(Qt::white);
     fullPlot->setCanvasLineWidth(0);
     fullPlot->enableAxis(QwtPlot::yLeft, false);
     fullPlot->enableAxis(QwtPlot::yLeft2, false);
diff --git a/src/GoldenCheetah.cpp b/src/GoldenCheetah.cpp
index 7043a14a8..dd7cdf380 100644
--- a/src/GoldenCheetah.cpp
+++ b/src/GoldenCheetah.cpp
@@ -170,17 +170,18 @@ GcWindow::paintEvent(QPaintEvent * /*event*/)
         // background light gray for now?
         QRect all(0,0,width(),height());
         //painter.drawTiledPixmap(all, aluLight);
-        painter.fillRect(all, defaultPalette.color(QPalette::Window));
+        //painter.fillRect(all, defaultPalette.color(QPalette::Window));
+        painter.fillRect(all, Qt::white);
 
         // fill in the title bar
         QRect bar(0,0,width(),contentsMargins().top());
         QColor bg;
         if (property("active").toBool() == true) {
             bg = GColor(CTILEBARSELECT);
-            painter.drawPixmap(bar, aluBarDark);
+            painter.drawPixmap(bar, aluBar);
         } else {
             bg = GColor(CTILEBAR);
-            painter.drawPixmap(bar, aluBar);
+            painter.drawPixmap(bar, aluBarDark);
         }
 
 
@@ -210,7 +211,8 @@ GcWindow::paintEvent(QPaintEvent * /*event*/)
         QPainter painter(this);
         QRect all(0,0,width(),height());
         if (property("isManager").toBool() == true) {
-            painter.drawTiledPixmap(all, carbon);
+            //painter.drawTiledPixmap(all, carbon);
+            painter.fillRect(all, QColor("#A8A8A8"));
         } else {
             //painter.drawTiledPixmap(all, aluLight);
         }
diff --git a/src/HomeWindow.cpp b/src/HomeWindow.cpp
index 0c403761f..f1e34ec89 100644
--- a/src/HomeWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/HomeWindow.cpp
@@ -79,7 +79,8 @@ HomeWindow::HomeWindow(MainWindow *mainWindow, QString name, QString windowtitle
     layout->addWidget(style);
 
     QPalette palette;
-    palette.setBrush(backgroundRole(), QBrush(QImage(":/images/carbon.jpg")));
+    //palette.setBrush(backgroundRole(), QBrush(QImage(":/images/carbon.jpg")));
+    palette.setBrush(backgroundRole(), QColor("#A8A8A8"));
 
     // each style has its own container widget
     tabbed = new QTabWidget(this);
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.cpp b/src/MainWindow.cpp
index a94b28fca..4cf089947 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
     pal.setColor(QPalette::Button, GColor(CTOOLBAR));
     pal.setColor(QPalette::WindowText, Qt::white); //XXX should be black/white for CTOOLBAR
     statusBar()->setPalette(pal);
-#endif
     statusBar()->showMessage(tr("Ready"));
+#endif
 
     /*----------------------------------------------------------------------
      *  Athlete details
@@ -184,6 +184,7 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
 #ifndef Q_OS_MAC
     toolbar->setContentsMargins(0,0,0,0);
     toolbar->setAutoFillBackground(true);
+    toolbar->setStyleSheet("background: qlineargradient(x1: 0, y1: 0, x2: 0, y2: 1, stop: 0 #CFCFCF, stop: 1.0 #A8A8A8);");
 #if 0
     toolbar->setPalette(pal);
 #endif
@@ -320,10 +321,6 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
     }
 
     splitter = new QSplitter;
-    splitter->setHandleWidth(2);
-    splitter->setFrameStyle(QFrame::NoFrame);
-    splitter->setStyleSheet("QSplitter::handle { color: black; }");
-    splitter->setContentsMargins(0, 0, 0, 0); // attempting to follow some UI guides
 
     // CHARTS
     chartTool = new GcWindowTool(this);
@@ -331,10 +328,15 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
     // TOOLBOX
     toolBox = new QToolBox(this);
     toolBox->setStyleSheet("QToolBox::tab {"
-                           "background: qlineargradient(x1: 0, y1: 0, x2: 0, y2: 1,"
-                           "stop: 0 #FFFFFF, stop: 0.5 #DDDDDD,"
-                           "stop: 0.6 #D8D8D8, stop: 1.0 #CCCCCC);"
+#if 0
+                           "background-image: url(:images/aluToolBar.png);"
+                           "background-position: top right;"
+                           "background-origin: content;"
+                           "background-repeat: repeat-x;"
+#endif
                            "max-height: 18px; "
+                           "background: qlineargradient(x1: 0, y1: 0, x2: 0, y2: 1,"
+                           "stop: 0 #CFCFCF, stop: 1.0 #A8A8A8);"
                            "color: #535353;"
                            "font-weight: bold; }");
 
@@ -442,8 +444,11 @@ MainWindow::MainWindow(const QDir &home) :
         sizes.append(390);
         splitter->setSizes(sizes);
     }
-    splitter->setHandleWidth(2); // gets munged by restore state from older versions
     splitter->setChildrenCollapsible(false); // QT BUG crash QTextLayout do not undo this
+    splitter->setHandleWidth(1);
+    splitter->setFrameStyle(QFrame::NoFrame);
+    splitter->setStyleSheet("QSplitter { border: 0px; background-color: #A8A8A8; }");
+    splitter->setContentsMargins(0, 0, 0, 0); // attempting to follow some UI guides
     setCentralWidget(splitter);
 
     /*----------------------------------------------------------------------
@@ -579,9 +584,11 @@ MainWindow::rideTreeWidgetSelectionChanged()
             ride = (RideItem*) which;
     }
 
+#if 0
     // update the status bar
     if (!ride) statusBar()->showMessage(tr("No ride selected"));
     else statusBar()->showMessage(ride->dateTime.toString("ddd MMM d, yyyy h:mm AP")); // same format as ride list
+#endif
 
     // update the ride property on all widgets
     // to let them know they need to replot new
diff --git a/src/RideNavigator.cpp b/src/RideNavigator.cpp
index 80c42c540..eaee26b1c 100644
--- a/src/RideNavigator.cpp
+++ b/src/RideNavigator.cpp
@@ -69,6 +69,14 @@ RideNavigator::RideNavigator(MainWindow *parent) : main(parent), active(false),
     //tableView->setFont(smaller);
     tableView->installEventFilter(this);
     tableView->setFrameStyle(QFrame::NoFrame);
+
+#if 0
+    tableView->header()->setStyleSheet( "::section { background: qlineargradient(x1: 0, y1: 0, x2: 0, y2: 1,"
+                                        "stop: 0 #CFCFCF, stop: 1.0 #A8A8A8);"
+                                        "border: 2px; border-color: #A8A8A8; "
+                                        "color: #535353;"
+                                        "font-weight: bold; }");
+#endif
     tableView->show();
 
     // this maps friendly names to metric names
diff --git a/src/RideSummaryWindow.cpp b/src/RideSummaryWindow.cpp
index 2025ebfe2..d3934a7c0 100644
--- a/src/RideSummaryWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/RideSummaryWindow.cpp
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ RideSummaryWindow::RideSummaryWindow(MainWindow *mainWindow) :
     vlayout->setContentsMargins(10,10,10,10);
     rideSummary = new QTextEdit(this);
     rideSummary->setReadOnly(true);
+    rideSummary->setFrameStyle(QFrame::NoFrame);
     vlayout->addWidget(rideSummary);
 
     QFont font;
diff --git a/src/application.qrc b/src/application.qrc
index 81275592e..8104bb6a6 100644
--- a/src/application.qrc
+++ b/src/application.qrc
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
     <file>images/toolbar/main/measures.png</file>
     <file>images/toolbar/main/train.png</file>
     <file>images/aluBar.png</file>
+    <file>images/aluToolBar.png</file>
     <file>images/aluBarDark.png</file>
     <file>images/aluLight.jpg</file>
     <file>images/carbon.jpg</file>
diff --git a/src/images/aluToolBar.png b/src/images/aluToolBar.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a7c35e438
Binary files /dev/null and b/src/images/aluToolBar.png differ