Top tip for finding a colour pallette.
Get an image you really like because of its colour.
Doesn't matter what it's of, just go on how nice the colours look.
Take the image into Photoshop and do Filters>Mosaic>Pixellate on it.
The result is a nice set of tiles of colours that work well together.
Experiment with the settings a bit, generally you get decent ideas from it though.
Regarding your site design.
I really don't like the bevelled buttons and drop shadow on the left.
Try doing it nice and flat and clean, css style.
A great tip is to line stuff up with other stuff, don'thave things floating.
"I'm making time