For my students who are having issues translating their wireframes to an actual design, check this site out:

http://www.wireframeshowcase.com/

It shows the original wireframe that was proposed for site structure and hierarchy, and then overlays the final design on top.

As you may see, many of the examples show that the wireframe  is not taken literally. It is up to us as designers to re-interpret the information displayed in the wireframe into something that is stunning visually. We want to avoid what we call “Paint On Wireframes” where we just add color to the blocks in the wireframes.