Wrappers

Hullo.

I tried for a long while to accomplish this myself and I cannot seem to make it right; I browsed similar issues but I am exceptionally new to this and reverted to default. I have been trying to add wrappers into my site around page content. My attempt was something to the effect of:
#main {background-color: #e6e6e6; width:100%; max-width:1000px; margin:4em auto;
My problem comes in a few folds. When browsing archive (for example), there is just one massive, ugly wrapper instead of a neat little packages by post. My second problem is I would like to single out one page (my home page post) as having no padding (where as every other post has a reasonable amount). This page in particular with the code about also gave me massive empty-space after my gallery which I was not sure how I could remove. It seems to continue down to that double line. So-

1. Nice, tidy, all-purpose wrapper.
2. One special case
3. No empty space(/tighter wrap on the bottom)if possible.

Thank you very much for any assistance, most sincerely. My site is: ajellyfishanilliterate.com .

Warm Regards.