For for insight into why the sites are the size that they are, please see: "My website is too big!" above.
We address the question of why "the sites are so big" as part of our Help section, because we get it a lot. Yes, you tech savvy wizards of the intertubes running panoramic flat screens at 1440 pixels across (which happens to be my screen resolution too) may be shocked to hear that there are still many many people using monitors set to screen resolutions of 1024 x 768 and below.
So, if you do not believe me, then please consult the holy grail of the intertubes, the great and powerful, all-knowing Wikipedia. Here is a link to Wikipedia's article on screen resolution, where it is stated in a little chart that 48% of "Internet Users" are viewing the web with monitors at 1024 x 768. Shocking.
Well, you may say...surely your technically proficient web-venturing artists clientele are way above average in the screen department. Perhaps a bit, but 48% is still pretty significant, and to be honest, the amount of people we get asking for the sites to be bigger is just about the same as the amount of people we get asking for the sites to be smaller.