Suggestion:

How about the logo at the top with the title?
Logo centered over grey column.
"Firebird" left aligned over yellow area.
This way you have 4 distinct areas which can have different backgrounds, if
necessary.
More common, more classic.

Also, orange on grey is hard to read. If you are matching colours in the
logo I suggest dark red. say R=200, G=0, B=0.

Why is the welcome link different anyway?

Jeff Dodds