The site that the guy made for you could easily have been imported as a XOOPS theme. You can get very creative with themes if you want to. There is no need to keep the standard layout.
Kudos to you for not allowing him to take over your project. Your gut instinct was right to question him.
If you do decide to do a site redesign, this is my advice:
1. Have an artist create the layout for you and send it to you as an image.
2. Find a XOOPS person who knows how to make themes and give the person the picture of the layout. A good theamer will be able to "cut" the picture up and use it to create your theme.
:)