If you don't follow Steve Schroger everywhere he goes (not literally - don't be weird) - then you're missing out.
Was watching one of his recent videos about refactoring the "Bad about" UI on youtube last night over dinner (yes I'm sad), and one of the things he mentioned is about form inputs - and how they're better with a grey background and no borders. So, I tried it out on my side project mydevportfol.io
Here's the code
border: 0;
background: #f1f1f1;
box-shadow: none;
And that gives you the form on the right below. The black form on the left is from before I started updating this element.
I think it's quite a nice update - feels way fresher and easier on the eyes. As part of this change I obviously also updated the background of the containing element and the colour of the labels, but you don't need that code...
Anyways, just wanted to share - such an easy change for a real visual impact.
Check it out in action on my side project mydevportfol.io
Also don't forget to check Steve out, his videos are always great