While Windows XP may have kicked off the want/need/desire for skinning Windows, the very fact that Windows 7 includes a lot of options that Windows XP (or even Windows Vista) does not fortunately means that it doesn't require as much to change the basic look of the operating system.  Though I like (and am a former subscriber to) Object Desktop, I have less need for the entire suite of OD than I did when I was a subscriber.  I have found that I can get a lot of my skinning needs met using just two applications; WindowBlinds 7 and DeskScapes 3 (both of which are available in thirty-day trial versions right now).

I use a combination of a basic DeskScape (Windows 7 Waterfall) and a basic (and included) WB 7 Aero-targeted skin (Aero Metal), combined with the Windows 7 option of hiding the desktop's icons (the gadgets still show).

Very simplistic; yet the result looks anything but simple (and looks unlike the default windows 7 out of the box).

Windows 7 Waterfall is downloadable from the DeskScapes section here at WinCustomize, and Aero Metal is included with WindowBlinds 7.  (As simple as it gets.)

It can pay to start simple before getting complicated.