There are loads of "free web template" sites online that offer HTML/CSS templates that could get you started.
Personally, I think Theme Forest (http://themeforest.net/) has the best templates available, for a small fee (~$10).
Start with a template, hack it up to meet your needs, and go from there. So much faster and easier than doing it all yourself on an app where good UI is important, but isn't the point of the site.
It's not exactly a template, but I just used the 1140px css grid system this past weekend to get a side project up and going. I had no css experience before this, but the website turned out (i think) beautifully.
Pros:
- Took a non-html person about 40 minutes to figure out
- Can look really nice without much effort
- Simple
- Free!
Cons:
- I'm not sure it falls under the definition of a true template
I don't consider Blueprint or other CSS frameworks templates, but in general I think templates cause more work than they prevent.
Things look nice to start with, but you quickly find yourself trying to figure out how to remove or change CSS styles instead of just building on top of.
Personally, I think Theme Forest (http://themeforest.net/) has the best templates available, for a small fee (~$10).
Start with a template, hack it up to meet your needs, and go from there. So much faster and easier than doing it all yourself on an app where good UI is important, but isn't the point of the site.