matploblib added a style package in 1.4.2. Here's a quick view of how these styles look.
%matplotlib inline
from matplotlib import style
import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
import numpy as np
xs = np.linspace(-5, 5, 1000)
ys = np.cos(xs)
print(style.available)
[u'dark_background', u'bmh', u'grayscale', u'ggplot', u'fivethirtyeight']
plt.plot(xs, ys, label='$sin(x)$')
plt.legend()
plt.grid()
style.use('dark_background')
plt.plot(xs, ys, label='$sin(x)$')
plt.legend()
plt.grid()
style.use('bmh')
plt.plot(xs, ys, label='$sin(x)$')
plt.legend()
plt.grid()
style.use('grayscale')
plt.plot(xs, ys, label='$sin(x)$')
plt.legend()
plt.grid()
style.use('ggplot')
plt.plot(xs, ys, label='$sin(x)$')
plt.legend()
plt.grid()
## fivethiryeight
style.use('fivethirtyeight')
plt.plot(xs, ys, label='$sin(x)$')
plt.legend()
plt.grid()