[santod]

Look for my Co0kie Trans Alarm Back to remove the bars you guys are all talking about. There is another one I have posted for the calendar as well.
You will want both to remove all the backgrounds for the dropdown notifications and the alarm bar.

To add or remove items, use the right softkey options, there are two, one for editing the homescreen layout, and another for editing the lockscreen layout.
Once in edit mode, tap and hold on an empty space on the screen, then select to add whichever items you want to add, remove, or change.
You can also tap and hold on items already showing, to cycle through each option. Also in edit mode, you can go straight to the add/remove options for the layout you are editimg, by selecting the right softkey again, where in edit mode, it now says advanced.