Hey uhh I'll throw myself in with that US, and you'd best not call me a newbie since I've been here a year longer than you, and have nearly twice the post count. That said, I knew who Turtle777 was, I recognize the SN.

Never call anyone a newbie, there are always people who have been on a forum longer, and have better taste than you do.

As for having a house to worry about decor. Do you not think that I look after the decor of the two places I live at? Granted you can't do MUCH with a dorm room, but you can do some. And simply because YOU happen to not like silver stuff doesn't mean everyone else doesn't. I have a 12 inch PowerBook that goes great with my desk lamp and floor lamp in my room, it also matches my speakers, I will be spray painting a shelve the same silver colour, and am going to go with some other elements that should comment the whole look fairly well also. Don't assume everyone is as creatively devoid as you are.

Simply because you don't like the look of something, doesn't mean you have more taste than everyone else in the world (actually if your personality matches your taste well I'd say you'd have poor taste.)