Main Page Category Vs Category page

Help Please!

The index of my Zen Cart is showing the Categories which is what i wanted to do, but my delima is that I want to show two category columns on the index page and then show 3 Columns on the category page when someone chooses one of the categories from the index page. The problem is, Every time I change the Maximum Value to 3 columns, it makes both of the 3 Columns.

Is there a way to allow only two columns on the index page and 3 columns on the rest of the pages.

I have provide two examples of what I am trying to accomplish that I put together in photshop. this first image shows the index page Click here to see it.

and Click here to see the category page which is the result of clicking on a category from the index page. Help Please, Been racking my brain for a while now on this one.

Thanks,
Slabadoo