I would say that there isn't any general way of doing it. Don't get me wrong but it's a matter of choice really. Nested div's vs semantic markup all depends on how it's designed. Small images vs one large image, 4 server request vs 1, alpha transparancy vs no transparancy (dealing with alpha transparancy you don't want images to overlap eachother), expandable vs "static" box etc.

Then you always have the javascript way if you don't want to clutter your markup to much in development(easier to edit aswell).

Then there is a CSS3 property called border-radius: the thing is it isn't supported in all the browser but if you don't mind that you can use it for mozilla/webkit users.

With a table just do it grid like.

Are you able to whip-up a design or a box with rounded corners? then i could give you my opinion on how i would have done it.

cheers