I recently gave a presentation for the Portland WordPress Plugin Ignite Meetup, on two different plugins which can really help new users make a highly professionalized layout.
The two plugins are:
Distinctions… for an isolated use situation, I’d use Widgetize Pages, but for building an entire site, I’d choose Pagebuilder. Looks like it will be at least a year before anything similar becomes integrated into core, so this sort of plugin has a relatively long shelflife ahead. In terms of support and ongoing plugin development, I’d also recommend Pagebuilder more highly.