My website layout is pretty unique. So, I was not able to find a similar WP theme. I need to customize an existing theme or create my own theme. (Although I don't have much experience with WordPress, I am proficient in HTML/CSS.)
Which option is the most efficient way to build a customized WP site?
Option 1. Create a custom WP - I found this online tutorial. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-h7gOJbIpmo Please advise me if you know any other useful online tutorials.
Option 2. Use a blank WP theme (i.e. root, underscores, etc.)
Option 3. Modify an existing WP theme using plugins (i.e. Elementor) - Is the Elementor PRO worthy? Do you know any other plugins for customization?
I am open to any suggestions. Thank you for reading!
You refer to the layout being unique specifically, and you don't seem to shy away from coding yourself. Thus I'd recommend a fourth route:
Oxygen is a visual builder that lets you easily build the basic templates you'll need and more. It allows for complete custom coding, outputs very sleek code (way less bloat than i.e. Elementor), has a simplistic interface and is easy to learn. There's a very active and friendly community on Facebook with about 30k members and tons of tutorials on Youtube.
There are also 3rd party extensions. That said, you can achieve everything with the basic builder solely. Version 4 is in its alpha stage right now. It'll fix some minor issues and give the interface an overhaul.
Oxygen has a unique approach to theming WP, as it goes entirely without a theme. It saves everything in the database.
Here are some tutorials: https://oxygenbuilder.com/tutorials/
You can try it for free in one of their sandboxes. https://oxygenbuilder.com/try
Regarding your other choices: I would shy away from modifying existing WP themes more than slightly regarding your other options. It usually brings more pain than gain.
Also, I can't recommend Elementor or WPBakery. Mostly because of the bloated and unpretty code and the costs. Alternative builders are, i.e. Beaver, Bricks, Brizy.
If you're not proficient in PHP and at least a little jQuery/JS, I would not recommend coding a complete theme from scratch. Yes, it has the most significant learning effect, and it'll be uniquely yours. But it is a lot to learn.