Is design out? Must blogs be ugly?

No and no.

Blog themes are created by good designers and are free. They can be massively customized, easily, and can be switched with a click of a couple buttons. Easy, really easy.

If you want customization, that can be as extensive and expensive as you want it to be, but I suggest that

All your energy, time and money go into creating meaningful content. That is what will:

    Connect you with your audience in a meaningful way
    Increase your visibility in search engines

So who do you want to be? The one who every ogles or the one who everyone wants to talk with?

Here are two blogs using the same theme, but simply customized.