I would look here for theming possibilities.
http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=616989
Everything else I am not sure of, I am thinking from what i have heard the repairs have to go through Google anyways so I am not sure. Look into rooting, and if it is easy to go stock (remove root) then I would say go for it. I haven't heard of any bricks caused by achieving root, but as always the risk is on you.