I was in the same situation a few monthes ago and now I started to build my own. I would suggest to give it a try.
Check my thread (click on my signature) and look at post #6, there's usefull infos.
Then download notepad++ (Google it) and take a look at Hitcher's Conq skin (for my opinion definitely the best one for start since he made it with very clean and understandable code ... With tags to explain what it is).
Looks not reachable first but you need to browse the wiki the same time.