You can change the color of the footer by adjusting the css for it. You can find the css in the CSS folder in common.css. Look for this style and add in a background:
#outerWrapper #footer {
background-color:Black;
color:#2D6191;
padding:17px 20px;
text-align:center;
}
For the spry menu on the left you can adjust the color by opening the spry_custom.css file, in here look for this style:
.AccordionPanelTab {
background-color: #eeeeee;
border: 0;
border-top: solid 1px white;
padding:10px;
}
It is the background color in here that is the color you see. There is also a hover color that you can adjust.
When you use the express checkout the user will go to PayPal, login, then be returned to your site to confirm the details of the order. It is when they confirm the details that the order is inserted into your db.