I was just wondering what kind of site design people prefer i.e. clean, grunge, dark, bright, etc

Depends on the type of site - commercial or non-commercial and the subject area. I do generally prefer simple yet powerful designs that make good use of colour. Still, a lot of dark designs do work well too as long as the text is easily readable.

Simple and easy to read, yet has graphics that make the site stand out from other sites (If only I could make something like that, lol)

Originally Posted by Rajaie

(If only I could make something like that, lol)

Yep me too...

but I have to add my choice always adds up to a few things ...

no more than 2 fonts
no more than 3 background colours (look at this forum layout)
no images in places just to fill gaps

There is always going to be exceptions ... I've even done some myself that break every one of those listed above ... but it depends on the site and the target audience

Starlord

Simplicity rules. Clean, efficient, nice looking, but not overbearing.

yea simple sites beat it all. look at google, microsoft, etc. theyre simple, yet they look good. even look on this site, theres like 4 or 5 different colors max.