Customize a Theme or create a theme from Scratch using Dreamweaver?

How strong are your CSS & HTML skills? Whenever someone asks for a customizable theme, I always recommend Montezuma. In my opinion, it is the most customizable theme out there without having to resort to creating a child theme. Unlike most themes, where you are limited to a small number of options, Montezuma is built around a system of virtual templates and CSS files, which allows you to totally change the appearance any way you like. Sidebar on the left, sidebar on the right, no sidebars, as many widget areas you want, wherever you want. Move the menu to the sidebar or to the footer. If you have a page that needs a special layout, create a custom template for it. Working with the virtual templates is very much like coding your own theme. It’s easy to link in a Google Font if you don’t like the default font.

As I mentioned at the start, it’s helpful if you have a decent background in CSS and HTML (like, you know how to properly nest DIVs). You want to read the documentation in the theme’s CSS section (from the admin dashboard) on how the responsive grid system works, and there’s some documentation in the Templates sections that will give you some information about how the WordPress Template hierarchy works, which will be helpful.

I see from your mock-up that you have icons associated with your main menu items. Montezuma comes with that feature straight “out-of-the-box.” If you don’t like the icons that come with the theme, you can use your own by changing the CSS. You can check out this montezuma-built site and this site for examples of custom menu icons. You might also want to browse through the showing-off thread on the BytesForAll Montezuma forum for examples as to how customizable the theme is. My favorites are Cartidea, Mondo Moda Bimbo, Raise A Child, plus a site that I put together, Venice Hongwanji Buddhist Temple.