[1]: http://jelv.is/emacs-blackboard.png
Also, have you tried Evil? Apparently it's a very good Vim-emulation mode for Emacs, highly recommended over Viper.
I haven't tried Evil, in my last emacs phase it wasn't mature yet IIRC - maybe I should give that a go and see if it tips the balance yet again.
Obligatory vim can be pretty too, and I am happy with how mine looks.
http://i.imgur.com/ZC2xDxH.png
On a related note, I like how my terminal vim looks better than how the GUI looks. I don't use emacs much, but same goes for emacs.
My screenshot doesn't have custom status bar shapes. GP does. Anyway, for that, you need powerline(available for both vim and emacs).
My color theme is ir_black https://github.com/wgibbs/vim-irblack If you are using it in terminal, you also need to set up ir_black theme for the terminal.
[1]: https://github.com/jonathanchu/emacs-powerline/blob/master/p...