I just realized I didn't include a min-height fix for IE 6 in my example, but I don't want to overwhelm you before you get started. :)

If you really want to do this you need to forget about tables all together (except in the instance that you are actually displaying tabular data). I would advise that you have a look at some basic css tutorials to help you understand the differences between css and using tables to do layout.

In my example the top left "column" will always be 150 x 100, and the main content area will stretch with the content, but will never...

I think this is what you were asking for...
leftcol.png would be your repeating background image


HTML

<div id="container" >

<div id="topleft">
</div>

<div id="content">
</div>

</div>

CSS

body {
margin:0 auto;
padding:0;
text-align:...