diff --git a/mediagoblin/static/css/base.css b/mediagoblin/static/css/base.css
index effcec69..d3136788 100644
--- a/mediagoblin/static/css/base.css
+++ b/mediagoblin/static/css/base.css
@@ -84,23 +84,43 @@ input, textarea {
 .mediagoblin_body {
   position: relative;
   min-height: 100%;
+  margin-left: auto;
+  margin-right: auto;
+  width: 960px;
 }
 
 .mediagoblin_header {
+  width: 940px;
   height: 36px;
+  margin-left: 10px;
+  margin-right: 10px;
   padding-top: 14px;
   margin-bottom: 20px;
   border-bottom: 1px solid #333;
 }
 
+.mediagoblin_header_right {
+  float: right;
+}
+
 a.mediagoblin_logo{
   color: #fff;
   font-weight: bold;
   margin-right: 8px;
 }
 
+.mediagoblin_content {
+  width: 940px;
+  margin-left: 10px;
+  margin-right: 10px;
+  padding-bottom: 74px;
+}
+
 .mediagoblin_footer {
+  width: 940px;
   height: 30px;
+  margin-left: 10px;
+  margin-right: 10px;
   border-top: 1px solid #333;
   bottom: 0px;
   padding-top: 8px;
@@ -108,13 +128,6 @@ a.mediagoblin_logo{
   font-size: 0.875em;
 }
 
-.mediagoblin_content {
-  padding-bottom: 74px;
-}
-
-.mediagoblin_header_right {
-  float: right;
-}
 
 /* common website elements */
 
diff --git a/mediagoblin/templates/mediagoblin/base.html b/mediagoblin/templates/mediagoblin/base.html
index 6972fe2f..870a4861 100644
--- a/mediagoblin/templates/mediagoblin/base.html
+++ b/mediagoblin/templates/mediagoblin/base.html
@@ -37,8 +37,7 @@
     {% block mediagoblin_body %}
     <div class="mediagoblin_body">
       {% block mediagoblin_header %}
-        <div class="container_16">
-          <div class="grid_16 mediagoblin_header">
+          <div class="mediagoblin_header">
             {% block mediagoblin_logo %}
               <a class="mediagoblin_logo"
                  href="{{ request.urlgen('index') }}"
@@ -73,23 +72,18 @@
               {% endif %}
             </div>
           </div>
-        </div>
       {% endblock %}
-      <div class="container_16 mediagoblin_content">
-        <div class="grid_16">
+      <div class="mediagoblin_content">
           {% include "mediagoblin/utils/messages.html" %}
           {% block mediagoblin_content %}
           {% endblock mediagoblin_content %}
-        </div>
       </div>
       {% block mediagoblin_footer %}
-        <div class="container_16">
-          <div class="grid_16 mediagoblin_footer">
+          <div class="mediagoblin_footer">
             {% trans -%}
               Powered by <a href="http://mediagoblin.org">MediaGoblin</a>, a <a href="http://gnu.org/">GNU</a> project
             {%- endtrans %}
           </div>
-        </div>
       {% endblock %}
     {% endblock mediagoblin_body %}
     </div>