Dividends with divs?

When it comes to designing a web site, it's better to use divs than tables whenever possible. I am no web expert. I've been trying to create a site with some divs, but I can't get things to float properly. And I know nothing about scripting. When somebody designs a site with cute graphics for the navigation bar, I don't know how to make changes to that. I've been fiddling, but the results are just weird. Text hyperlinks are much easier for a web-know-nothing like me to deal with.