diff --git a/src/tui/status/tabs.zig b/src/tui/status/tabs.zig
index 8ea906c..7136064 100644
--- a/src/tui/status/tabs.zig
+++ b/src/tui/status/tabs.zig
@@ -17,6 +17,10 @@ const default_min_tabs = 2;
 const @"style.config" = struct {
     default_minimum_tabs_shown: usize = 2,
 
+    padding: []const u8 = " ",
+    padding_left: usize = 2,
+    padding_right: usize = 1,
+
     dirty_indicator: []const u8 = "",
     dirty_indicator_fg: ?colors = null,
     close_icon: []const u8 = "󰅖",
@@ -471,6 +475,7 @@ const Tab = struct {
         const buffer_manager = tui.get_buffer_manager() orelse @panic("tabs no buffer manager");
         const buffer_ = buffer_manager.buffer_from_ref(self.buffer_ref);
         const is_dirty = if (buffer_) |buffer| buffer.is_dirty() else false;
+        self.render_padding(&btn.plane, .left);
         if (self.tab_style.file_type_icon) if (buffer_) |buffer| if (buffer.file_type_icon) |icon| {
             const color_: ?u24 = if (buffer.file_type_color) |color| if (!(color == 0xFFFFFF or color == 0x000000 or color == 0x000001)) color else null else null;
             if (color_) |color|
@@ -492,6 +497,15 @@ const Tab = struct {
         } else {
             _ = btn.plane.putstr(" ") catch {};
         }
+        self.render_padding(&btn.plane, .right);
+    }
+
+    fn render_padding(self: *@This(), plane: *Plane, side: enum { left, right }) void {
+        var padding: usize = switch (side) {
+            .left => self.tab_style.padding_left,
+            .right => self.tab_style.padding_right,
+        };
+        while (padding > 0) : (padding -= 1) _ = plane.putstr(self.tab_style.padding) catch {};
     }
 
     fn layout(self: *@This(), btn: *Button.State(@This())) Widget.Layout {
@@ -504,11 +518,12 @@ const Tab = struct {
     }
 
     fn padding_len(plane: Plane, tab_style: Style, active: bool, dirty: bool) usize {
+        const len_padding = plane.egc_chunk_width(tab_style.padding, 0, 1) * (tab_style.padding_left + tab_style.padding_right);
         const len_file_icon: usize = if (tab_style.file_type_icon) 3 else 0;
         const len_close_icon = plane.egc_chunk_width(tab_style.close_icon, 0, 1);
         const len_dirty_indicator = if (dirty) plane.egc_chunk_width(tab_style.dirty_indicator, 0, 1) else 0;
         const len_dirty_close = @max(len_close_icon, len_dirty_indicator) + 1; // +1 for the leading space
-        return len_file_icon + len_dirty_close + if (active)
+        return len_padding + len_file_icon + len_dirty_close + if (active)
             plane.egc_chunk_width(tab_style.active_left, 0, 1) +
                 plane.egc_chunk_width(tab_style.active_right, 0, 1)
         else