I would very much like to be able to achive this (see the link):
http://www.dropsdesignkontor.no/bghandel/nettsiden.htm.

The menu-items on the to right is what I'm looking to recreate in WordPress/Atahualpa (I've got the latest version of both).

Currently I don't know how to place the pages on the same line/level as the logo. Is it also possible to use image-backgrounds as in the link above?

The site I'm trying to build is here:
http://www.bg-handel.no/

I've tried searching the forums but perhaps I don't know what to search for...?

if you are not going to be adding many pages, why not hand craft the menu bar and put the html in the 'Configure Header area'?
or you could add a new wiget area to the header, with two cells. put the logo in the first (it will show on the left, and a menu widget in the second

Could you also achieve this by creating the header with hotspots (with something like fireworks) and importing it into the header as html?

Trying to help.. and learn at the same time...