Just use dreamweaver, it will cut the time spent designing in half if not more. Also, you can view it in straight code with dreamweaver so you can learn how to program. You could start with a blank page and add stuff one by one and also viewing the code so you can see how it all works together. Trust me, dont spend the time trying to learn it in notepad when you can use dreamweaver and get it completed and learn the same amount of information in half the time.