Thread Bit Styling?

[natecoupons]

Okay, so I've played around with vB4 styling, and I really want to make vB4 look like my vB3 forum. I've done extensive design work to get it that way, and now I'm on the threadbit. It's awful!!!

vB3 has columns that separated the status icon for the thread, ie if it's hot or not, old or new etc. (the envelopes). My vb3 theme also had a separate column for the thread icon. My icons are not small, they never have been small and they create spacing within the thread area which is okay.

So I apologize in advance, but here is what I currently have (after changing a few phrases)
I've changed the width of the status icon in the stylevar, but the username when i'm using a larger icon is pushing itself onto a line below the status icon...which looks horrible.


What I would like to have happen is something cleaner like vB3. I want the status icon to float to the bottom, the larger icon not to cause the username to move to a new line. Essentially if I could create a 'zone' which the user selected icon and the status icon would occupy and the rest of it, thread title, user etc, was after it. Something like this:


My current forum is on vB3, and looks so much cleaner.


Help on this??

Testing forum is located on http://www.priusconnect.com