fantastico is a script installer which comes with most cPanel hosting accounts.
It makes a bare-bones 'CMS' very easy to set-up.

* Then you still need to spend hours experimenting with the different types of scripts.
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The best answer to your question is experience.
I look at sites I made a year ago (never launched) and they look awful!
Making something you can be proud of takes time.

Edit: Sitepoint.com is good if you want to learn CSS design from scratch, and http://webmonkey.com, which Gene mentioned, is a great old site too.