I really like the like of many non max armors, but don't want to have a low armor rating to look cool. Is there a mod that just creates different levels of all of the armors and adds them to leveled lists, eg Orcish quality armor available with iron or steel textures, or glass quality with the appearance of any other light armor under it?

The mod http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12996 might be exactly what ye seek. I used it my first play-through to transfer stats from stong but visual unappealing amour onto gear that looked good but was weak otherwise. Both original pieces used in the process are lost so you want to think twice before transmuting a unique item, and scripts attached to items do not survive. But by and large it's a neat tool.

-Decrepit-

Looks great, but one question, does it alter the base items in any way, or just make new ones?

It does not alter base items.

cool. I'm gonna use this