diff --git a/app/mainwindow.cpp b/app/mainwindow.cpp
--- a/app/mainwindow.cpp
+++ b/app/mainwindow.cpp
@@ -111,6 +111,7 @@
 
 static const int BROWSE_PRELOAD_DELAY = 1000;
 static const int VIEW_PRELOAD_DELAY = 100;
+static const int DEFAULT_LAYOUT_MARGIN = 3;
 
 static const char* BROWSE_MODE_SIDE_BAR_GROUP = "SideBar-BrowseMode";
 static const char* VIEW_MODE_SIDE_BAR_GROUP = "SideBar-ViewMode";
@@ -533,11 +534,12 @@
         page = new SideBarPage(i18n("Folders"));
         page->setObjectName(QLatin1String("folders"));
         page->addWidget(folderViewItem->widget());
-        page->layout()->setMargin(0);
+        page->layout()->setContentsMargins(DEFAULT_LAYOUT_MARGIN, 0, 0, 0);
         mSideBar->addPage(page);
 
         page = new SideBarPage(i18n("Information"));
         page->setObjectName(QLatin1String("information"));
+        infoItem->widget()->setContentsMargins(DEFAULT_LAYOUT_MARGIN, 0, 0, 0);
         page->addWidget(infoItem->widget());
 #ifndef GWENVIEW_SEMANTICINFO_BACKEND_NONE
         if (semanticInfoItem) {
@@ -551,6 +553,7 @@
         page->addWidget(imageOpsItem->widget());
         page->addWidget(fileOpsItem->widget());
         page->addStretch();
+        page->setContentsMargins(DEFAULT_LAYOUT_MARGIN, 0, 0, 0);
         mSideBar->addPage(page);
     }
 
diff --git a/app/semanticinfocontextmanageritem.cpp b/app/semanticinfocontextmanageritem.cpp
--- a/app/semanticinfocontextmanageritem.cpp
+++ b/app/semanticinfocontextmanageritem.cpp
@@ -174,6 +174,7 @@
     void setupGroup()
     {
         mGroup = new SideBarGroup(i18n("Semantic Information"));
+        mGroup->updateTitleMargin(QMargins(3, 0, 0, 0));
         q->setWidget(mGroup);
         EventWatcher::install(mGroup, QEvent::Show, q, SLOT(update()));
 
diff --git a/app/sidebar.h b/app/sidebar.h
--- a/app/sidebar.h
+++ b/app/sidebar.h
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
     SideBarGroup(const QString& title);
     ~SideBarGroup();
 
+    void updateTitleMargin(QMargins margin);
     void addWidget(QWidget*);
     void addAction(QAction*);
     void clear();
diff --git a/app/sidebar.cpp b/app/sidebar.cpp
--- a/app/sidebar.cpp
+++ b/app/sidebar.cpp
@@ -124,6 +124,11 @@
     }
 }
 
+void SideBarGroup::updateTitleMargin(QMargins margin)
+{
+    d->mTitleLabel->setContentsMargins(margin);
+}
+
 void SideBarGroup::addWidget(QWidget* widget)
 {
     widget->setParent(d->mContainer);
@@ -153,7 +158,8 @@
     button->setAutoRaise(true);
     button->setDefaultAction(action);
     button->setToolButtonStyle(Qt::ToolButtonTextBesideIcon);
-    button->setIconSize(QSize(size, size));
+    // size units extra width to create some padding between icon and button boundary
+    button->setIconSize(QSize(2*size, size));
     if (action->menu()) {
         button->setPopupMode(QToolButton::InstantPopup);
     }