Look at the features in labs.  Some of what you want can be accomplished via the current labs options and simply minimizing sections in the left-hand column that you don't want (i.e. sign out of chat to make that section shrink to 3 lines).
The couple bits not modifiable (like the Google navbar at the top) are probably going to remain no matter what.
The web-clips (right above the message list) have always been optional, control them from the Web Clips tab in settings.


Josef Lowder wrote:
> Is there such a thing as a gmail customizing "front end" by which one
> could modify the way one sees gmail?
> 
> I'd like to be able to get rid of a bunch of what I consider clutter
> so as to be able to see a more efficient display of just what I want
> to see and not all the extra garbage (at least to me it's garbage).
> 
> Here's a screen shot of what I see:
> www.upquick.com/view/gmailclutter.jpg
> 
> Here are the clutter elements I'd like to eliminate:
> www.upquick.com/view/gmailexcess.jpg
> 
> This is what it would look like with the clutter removed:
> www.upquick.com/view/gmailcleanedup.jpg
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