I've been thinking doing a series, or something, about improving layouts. But what keeps me from doing it is the fear of corralling everyone into a corner and limiting what makes a good layout. Obviously I have my own feelings and certain things stand out to me that make something great, but this is not the same for everyone. I've been trying to figure out if there's anything I can say that would be helpful, not too general, but not too specific. If that makes any sense.
My question for you is this: when you finish a layout do you generally feel good about it? Do you feel like you have the skills you need to make something you think looks good? If not, can you identify what you don't like? Can you point to things you do like?
Let's get real deep about the layout making process 
I agree it could corral everyone into a corner if you're not careful, but I think if you take the approach that you have to know the rules of composition in order to learn how and when you can break them successfully, it could be a fantastic series. I wouldn't worry too much about people feeling corralled, though; for me, the biggest challenge was learning how to recognize what would work for a given group of photos.
I'd suggest perhaps doing episodes/posts/tuts on the rule of thirds, white space, balance, symmetry, repetition, leading lines/curves and flow, dynamic clustering, typographic rules--first covering how to make the rule work for you, and then some examples where it's been broken successfully. Beyond that, techniques like blending and clustering could make for awesome topics, as could seeing things differently (using items in unexpected ways, or kits off-theme).
I would say, I am usually always happy with an end result. I would say 90 /10. I don't like publicizing something that I don't feel was of a good quality. I have an example: I was working with a kit this morning trying to incorporate a technique I don't normally use. So, i was using a couple of photo masks and blending photos into the background, and hated the end result. I took a little break, started over with a different technique I saw on Pinterest and really love the end result.
I know that my skills are improving, but I also know there is a lot I don't do, and don't know. In looking at all of the layouts I did for January, I am really happy, and am hopeful I can build off this. I also know I tend toward the minimal / clean and simple rather than the overly ornate / clustery types of layouts.
I definitely think this would be interesting!
I love looking over the gallery and seeing what people come up with. I'm often in awe of others peoples use of clusters, ribbons, twine, and other jazzy items. But when I try to get extra fancy it gets overwhelming quickly. I know that obviously a lot of the decoration is going to be up to the individual but it seems to me there has to be some general rule of thumb of how many items to put on a page to jazz things up or a way to know when you've crossed to many elements line.
(This is going to seem funny, but I also can't figure out brads! Every time I put one down I end up overthinking where it should be on the page, and what its purpose is. Layout lesson #1 "How to use brads and not have them look awkward!")
@Christianna: Clustering is an art that really takes a good understanding of composition. If you're not great at it, templates are a good help to work on developing your eye. (And I don't use brads much either--though they work well in the corner of a photo to cover up the photographer's finger or some distracting random leg!
Combine with a piece of ribbon if it's bigger than the brad can cover. They can also be used to hold a tag onto the page. )