some desktop environments and window managers have built in functionality to do this through something like config files or a gui config.
the intentionally "simplified" or "streamlined" alternatives (ie gnome) requires more involvement and runs at a gradient between simple kde like config file at one extreme end, to full on source modification at the other extreme end.
if something like this was a common thing for me; i would go with an environment that makes the bells and whistles available to you as the default option, like kde.