How does one create a dashboard of different templates/layouts. for example, I am using the contact template and now would like to add Asset template.  so rather than adding a new layout can we not import another template layout.

New user, I am afraid hence the question so please be kind. thank you

Those pre canned templates are just that.  They are starter solutions.  If you are trying to combine 2 of them, you will need to import all the tables, recreate the relationships, import the scripts, and create new layouts ( you can copy and paste from the other template ).  

You could also connect the two starter solutions using External Data Sources and that would enable you to navigate between the two.