Bumperbyrnes,
If you have some extra money, you may wish to look at
http://marketplace.x-cart.com/skins-templates/aheadworks/ for some themes that may better suit you.
If not, you may wish to have someone do the changes from the start. I was able to produce this in just ~10 minutes with only changing some css and removing a table or two.
http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/3137/xcart1.jpg
http://img5.imageshack.us/img5/829/xcart2.jpg