css: how to build centered div with minimum spacing on the left
so the past days i tried to achieve the following:

farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/6004690559_3bca582df0.jpg

the idea being to have a div (red) that is ultimately centered (using margin:auto;), and on the same level (x-axis) another div that has a fixed size (blue). 

on a huge enough display, maximized, it looks great. 
now the fun part is when having a smaller screen and/or resizing the window. because of the auto margin, one of the divs overlaps the other:

farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/6005236512_9b00d125a4_m.jpg

this is what i want to prevent. (in explanation: red being the menu, blue being the logo)

so the first idea was to shift the red div the needed pixels of the blue div to the right, using padding-left:??px;

farm7.static.flickr.com/6025/6005236490_e49fb09a9b.jpg

but that makes the red div no longer center itself absolutely, but padded ??px to the right. figuratively centered in an extra box (grey).

second idea being to create another (transparent) div on the right of the red div. but that makes the min-width of the whole site become out of bound:

farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/6005236544_440e85442e_m.jpg

in other words: the scroll bar becomes visible far to early. it's ought to appear just when the window is smaller than the sum of pixels of the red and blue div together. and not, like in img 4, where it appears just when the window is smaller than the sum of pixels of the red div and *both* divs right and left from it). 

so what i want is that:
two divs, not overlapping (even when resizing), the right one at a fixed size, the left one in the center of the window, whithout creating a ghost div, creating blank space on low resolutions. 
oh and please no javascript, if possible. 


i hope my explanations helped a bit getting my idea. 
and i furthermore hope someone with a great idea or with an overlooked feature can help me out. 

thank you very, very much for reading and/or helping!
alex.

(note: due to new user restriction, i am currently unable to include the pictures or create hyperlinks. you sadly have to follow the urls manually..)
css: how to build centered div with minimum spacing on the left
===

so the past days i tried to achieve the following:

farm7.static.flickr.com/6144/6004690559_3bca582df0.jpg

the idea being to have a div (red) that is ultimately centered (using margin:auto;), and on the same level (x-axis) another div that has a fixed size (blue). 

on a huge enough display, maximized, it looks great. 
now the fun part is when having a smaller screen and/or resizing the window. because of the auto margin, one of the divs overlaps the other:

farm7.static.flickr.com/6141/6005236512_9b00d125a4_m.jpg

this is what i want to prevent. (in explanation: red being the menu, blue being the logo)

so the first idea was to shift the red div the needed pixels of the blue div to the right, using padding-left:??px;

farm7.static.flickr.com/6025/6005236490_e49fb09a9b.jpg

but that makes the red div no longer center itself absolutely, but padded ??px to the right. figuratively centered in an extra box (grey).

second idea being to create another (transparent) div on the right of the red div. but that makes the min-width of the whole site become out of bound:

farm7.static.flickr.com/6014/6005236544_440e85442e_m.jpg

in other words: the scroll bar becomes visible far to early. it's ought to appear just when the window is smaller than the sum of pixels of the red and blue div together. and not, like in img 4, where it appears just when the window is smaller than the sum of pixels of the red div and *both* divs right and left from it). 

so what i want is that:
two divs, not overlapping (even when resizing), the right one at a fixed size, the left one in the center of the window, whithout creating a ghost div, creating blank space on low resolutions. 
oh and please no javascript, if possible. 


i hope my explanations helped a bit getting my idea. 
and i furthermore hope someone with a great idea or with an overlooked feature can help me out. 

thank you very, very much for reading and/or helping!
alex.

(note: due to new user restriction, i am currently unable to include the pictures or create hyperlinks. you sadly have to follow the urls manually..)