ls color is a easy one: in your .bash_profile (or in the .bashrc if you prefer) add "alias ls='ls --color=auto"
for the other stuff maybe you shoud try 'linuxlogo' package (still ugly for me) if you use gdm-themes packages. If you want a bootsplash (high-resolution console bootup) you need to recompile your kernel. sorry about that. Hope it helps.