NOF treats the page in two parts: The border and the layout. Anything put into the layout is unique to the page. Anything put into the border is common to all pages that use that border.
Typically you set up a MasterBorder which contains your banner, menus, and anything else that you want to appear on all pages. Then, on each page you put content into the layout area.
If (for example) you want some additional stuff in the border of your Home Page, you create a new border, based on your master border (you might call it HomePageBorder). Anything you add to this border will then be unique to the Home Page.
You can have as many borders as you want. Typically you might have one for the Home Page, one for most other pages and (say) another for photo galleries.