Excuse the Mess

For the designer who wants a great CMS package and a website that doesn't look like everyone else's (hint: Wordpress) this is a basic breakdown of all the files one has to edit in order to achieve a custom layout.

1. Pick a Style found under Design > Style
It doesn't matter which one, it'll all get changed anyway - this blog uses the "Hills Pink" style, but you'd never know it! What matters is selecting the type of layout i.e. 2 column, wide-thin (which is what I use).

2. Add your custom CSS found under Design > Templates > Stylesheet - Main
It is really important that you use Stylesheet - Main and not the base. Main is the last sheet to be loaded and should therefore contain all your custom CSS. The styles and their overrides should cascade properly, but from my experience this works about 90% of the time. If you are really picky, you need to check at the top of Stylesheet - Main in order to find the CSS file that drives the style you selected in Step 1.

/* This is the StyleCatcher theme addition. Do not remove this block. */
/* Selected Layout: <MTSetVar name="page_layout" value="layout-wt"> */
@import url(base_theme.css);
@import url(/mt-static/support/themes/hills-pink/hills-pink.css);
/* end StyleCatcher imports */

I would find "/mt-static/support/themes/hills-pink/hills-pink.css" and modify it to remove any offending styles.

3. Modify the Header and Footer found under Design > Templates > Template Modules
To access the Template Modules, use the menu on the right. You will then see "Header" and "Footer" which contain all the elements for the top and bottom of the page. Widget Sets are also included in the Footer, although they can go anywhere. After modifying these files, you should have a custom template.

4. Further Edits
You can modify anything in the Template Modules (I'd recommend "Entry Metadata" and the Comment modules) as well as create your own Widgets/Widget Sets. Everything I've done with this blog has been trial and error, and while I'm sure it's not the best solution, it's working.

Or you could cheat and download Byrne's awesome templates.