Quick tweaks to make a boring standalone web form look nicer?

I'm working on a simple one-page calculator, heavy with JavaScript and form elements. Here is a static snapshot of the page as an example: http://pastehtml.com/view/1ce4ppo.html

Obviously it's very plain and I haven't put much emphasis on the layout of it yet. But this prototype is about to be shown to the client in a few hours. There is the understanding that it is a mockup prototype, so the client is not expecting anything design-wise, but I wouldn't mind if it looked a bit nicer.

What are some quick and easy tweaks I can make so that the page looks a little better? I'm terrible with colors and design but I 开发者_StackOverflow社区know CSS quite well (like an English major who knows correct spelling and grammar but is terrible at writing a story).

Also, I am using jQuery in the form, so anything involving jQuery is great.

I would suggest the Blueprint CSS template You can use just the form CSS, seen here. All you have to do is add some classes to the HTML and you've got some decent forms.

give this a quick read: http://www.emblematiq.com/lab/niceforms/ i dont know if the javascript load is worth it for what you are looking for

I really like narrative style forms, where form elements are integrated in sentences which guide the user through the form-filling. Might not be for everybody(every form) but I think it's a really nice way of making your forms user friendly and stand out from the rest. Here you can find an example: http://www.lukew.com/ff/entry.asp?1007

When it comes to styling select, radio or checkbox inputs I prefer http://pixelmatrixdesign.com/uniform/.

I'd use one of the free template sites out there. I use them all the time, especially for a mock-up since I'm also not a design person. And in a lot of cases the customer enjoys the look or doesn't care. Just check what the requirements are for using the template, if there are any.