diff --git a/modules/Element.lua b/modules/Element.lua
index 24e4470..88549a3 100644
--- a/modules/Element.lua
+++ b/modules/Element.lua
@@ -141,6 +141,7 @@
 ---@field scrollBarStyle string? -- Scrollbar style name from theme (selects from theme.scrollbars)
 ---@field scrollbarKnobOffset number|table? -- Scrollbar knob/handle offset (number or {x, y} or {horizontal, vertical})
 ---@field scrollbarPlacement string? -- "reserve-space"|"overlay" -- Whether scrollbar reserves space or overlays content (default: "reserve-space")
+---@field scrollbarBalance boolean? -- When true, reserve space on both sides of content for visual balance (default: false)
 ---@field _overflowX boolean? -- Internal: whether content overflows horizontally
 ---@field _overflowY boolean? -- Internal: whether content overflows vertically
 ---@field _contentWidth number? -- Internal: total content width
@@ -1941,6 +1942,7 @@ function Element.new(props)
       scrollbarKnobOffset = props.scrollbarKnobOffset,
       hideScrollbars = props.hideScrollbars,
       scrollbarPlacement = props.scrollbarPlacement,
+      scrollbarBalance = props.scrollbarBalance,
       _scrollX = props._scrollX,
       _scrollY = props._scrollY,
     }, scrollManagerDeps)
@@ -1960,6 +1962,7 @@ function Element.new(props)
     self.scrollbarKnobOffset = self._scrollManager.scrollbarKnobOffset
     self.hideScrollbars = self._scrollManager.hideScrollbars
     self.scrollbarPlacement = self._scrollManager.scrollbarPlacement
+    self.scrollbarBalance = self._scrollManager.scrollbarBalance
 
     -- Initialize state properties (will be synced from ScrollManager)
     self._overflowX = false
diff --git a/modules/LayoutEngine.lua b/modules/LayoutEngine.lua
index 465e440..a216bd6 100644
--- a/modules/LayoutEngine.lua
+++ b/modules/LayoutEngine.lua
@@ -466,20 +466,32 @@ function LayoutEngine:layoutChildren()
     local isHorizontal = self.flexDirection == self._FlexDirection.HORIZONTAL
     for _, child in ipairs(flexChildren) do
       if isHorizontal then
-        -- Horizontal flex: cross-axis is height
+        -- Horizontal flex: main-axis is width, cross-axis is height
+        -- Adjust main-axis width if percentage-based
+        if child.units and child.units.width and child.units.width.unit == "%" then
+          local newBorderBoxWidth = (child.units.width.value / 100) * availableMainSize
+          local newWidth = math.max(0, newBorderBoxWidth - child.padding.left - child.padding.right)
+          child.width = newWidth
+          child._borderBoxWidth = newBorderBoxWidth
+        end
+        -- Adjust cross-axis height if percentage-based
         if child.units and child.units.height and child.units.height.unit == "%" then
-          -- Re-resolve percentage height against reduced cross-axis size
-          -- The percentage applies to border-box, so we need to subtract padding to get content height
           local newBorderBoxHeight = (child.units.height.value / 100) * availableCrossSize
           local newHeight = math.max(0, newBorderBoxHeight - child.padding.top - child.padding.bottom)
           child.height = newHeight
           child._borderBoxHeight = newBorderBoxHeight
         end
       else
-        -- Vertical flex: cross-axis is width
+        -- Vertical flex: main-axis is height, cross-axis is width
+        -- Adjust main-axis height if percentage-based
+        if child.units and child.units.height and child.units.height.unit == "%" then
+          local newBorderBoxHeight = (child.units.height.value / 100) * availableMainSize
+          local newHeight = math.max(0, newBorderBoxHeight - child.padding.top - child.padding.bottom)
+          child.height = newHeight
+          child._borderBoxHeight = newBorderBoxHeight
+        end
+        -- Adjust cross-axis width if percentage-based
         if child.units and child.units.width and child.units.width.unit == "%" then
-          -- Re-resolve percentage width against reduced cross-axis size
-          -- The percentage applies to border-box, so we need to subtract padding to get content width
           local newBorderBoxWidth = (child.units.width.value / 100) * availableCrossSize
           local newWidth = math.max(0, newBorderBoxWidth - child.padding.left - child.padding.right)
           child.width = newWidth
diff --git a/modules/ScrollManager.lua b/modules/ScrollManager.lua
index a783910..4223f59 100644
--- a/modules/ScrollManager.lua
+++ b/modules/ScrollManager.lua
@@ -13,6 +13,7 @@
 ---@field scrollbarKnobOffset table -- {x: number, y: number, horizontal: number, vertical: number} -- Offset for scrollbar knob/handle position
 ---@field hideScrollbars table -- {vertical: boolean, horizontal: boolean}
 ---@field scrollbarPlacement string -- "reserve-space"|"overlay" -- Whether scrollbar reserves space or overlays content (default: "reserve-space")
+---@field scrollbarBalance boolean -- When true, reserve space on both sides of content for visual balance (default: false)
 ---@field touchScrollEnabled boolean -- Enable touch scrolling
 ---@field momentumScrollEnabled boolean -- Enable momentum scrolling
 ---@field bounceEnabled boolean -- Enable bounce effects at boundaries
@@ -101,6 +102,9 @@ function ScrollManager.new(config, deps)
 
   -- Scrollbar placement: "reserve-space" (default) or "overlay"
   self.scrollbarPlacement = config.scrollbarPlacement or "reserve-space"
+  
+  -- Scrollbar balance: when true, reserve space on both sides for visual balance
+  self.scrollbarBalance = config.scrollbarBalance or false
 
   -- Touch scrolling configuration
   self.touchScrollEnabled = config.touchScrollEnabled ~= false -- Default true
@@ -167,12 +171,14 @@ function ScrollManager:getReservedSpace(element)
 
   -- Reserve space for vertical scrollbar if overflow mode requires it
   if (overflowY == "scroll" or overflowY == "auto") and not self.hideScrollbars.vertical then
-    reservedWidth = self.scrollbarWidth + (self.scrollbarPadding * 2)
+    local scrollbarSpace = self.scrollbarWidth + (self.scrollbarPadding * 2)
+    reservedWidth = self.scrollbarBalance and (scrollbarSpace * 2) or scrollbarSpace
   end
 
   -- Reserve space for horizontal scrollbar if overflow mode requires it
   if (overflowX == "scroll" or overflowX == "auto") and not self.hideScrollbars.horizontal then
-    reservedHeight = self.scrollbarWidth + (self.scrollbarPadding * 2)
+    local scrollbarSpace = self.scrollbarWidth + (self.scrollbarPadding * 2)
+    reservedHeight = self.scrollbarBalance and (scrollbarSpace * 2) or scrollbarSpace
   end
 
   return reservedWidth, reservedHeight
@@ -715,6 +721,7 @@ function ScrollManager:getState()
     scrollBarStyle = self.scrollBarStyle,
     scrollbarKnobOffset = self.scrollbarKnobOffset,
     scrollbarPlacement = self.scrollbarPlacement,
+    scrollbarBalance = self.scrollbarBalance,
     _overflowX = self._overflowX,
     _overflowY = self._overflowY,
     _contentWidth = self._contentWidth,
@@ -797,6 +804,10 @@ function ScrollManager:setState(state)
     self.scrollbarPlacement = state.scrollbarPlacement
   end
 
+  if state.scrollbarBalance ~= nil then
+    self.scrollbarBalance = state.scrollbarBalance
+  end
+
   if state._overflowX ~= nil then
     self._overflowX = state._overflowX
   end
diff --git a/modules/types.lua b/modules/types.lua
index 2fa4af1..f0ac85b 100644
--- a/modules/types.lua
+++ b/modules/types.lua
@@ -131,6 +131,7 @@ local AnimationProps = {}
 ---@field scrollBarStyle string? -- Scrollbar style name from theme (selects from theme.scrollbars, default: uses first scrollbar or fallback rendering)
 ---@field scrollbarKnobOffset number|{x:number, y:number}|{horizontal:number, vertical:number}? -- Offset for scrollbar knob/handle position in pixels (number for both axes, or table for per-axis control, default: 0, adds to theme offset)
 ---@field scrollbarPlacement "reserve-space"|"overlay"? -- Scrollbar rendering mode: "reserve-space" (reduces content area, default) or "overlay" (renders over content)
+---@field scrollbarBalance boolean? -- When true, reserve scrollbar space on both sides of content for visual balance (default: false)
 ---@field hideScrollbars boolean|{vertical:boolean, horizontal:boolean}? -- Hide scrollbars (boolean for both, or table for individual control, default: false)
 ---@field imagePath string? -- Path to image file (auto-loads via ImageCache)
 ---@field image love.Image? -- Image object to display
diff --git a/testing/__tests__/scrollbar_placement_test.lua b/testing/__tests__/scrollbar_placement_test.lua
index 12de530..d761444 100644
--- a/testing/__tests__/scrollbar_placement_test.lua
+++ b/testing/__tests__/scrollbar_placement_test.lua
@@ -171,6 +171,94 @@ function TestScrollbarPlacement:test_vertical_overflow_detected_with_reserved_sp
   luaunit.assertEquals(child1.width, 184, "Child width should be reduced for scrollbar")
 end
 
+function TestScrollbarPlacement:test_scrollbar_balance_vertical()
+  -- Test scrollbarBalance with vertical scrollbar
+  local container = FlexLove.new({
+    width = 200,
+    height = 200,
+    positioning = "flex",
+    flexDirection = "column",
+    overflow = "scroll",
+    scrollbarPlacement = "reserve-space",
+    scrollbarBalance = true,
+  })
+
+  local child1 = FlexLove.new({
+    width = "100%",
+    height = 100,
+    parent = container
+  })
+
+  container:layoutChildren()
+
+  local reservedW, reservedH = container._scrollManager:getReservedSpace(container)
+  
+  -- Should reserve double the space (16 * 2 = 32)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(reservedW, 32, "Should reserve doubled width for balance")
+  
+  -- Child width should account for balanced space
+  luaunit.assertEquals(child1.width, 168, "Child width should be 200 - 32")
+end
+
+function TestScrollbarPlacement:test_scrollbar_balance_horizontal()
+  -- Test scrollbarBalance with horizontal scrollbar
+  local container = FlexLove.new({
+    width = 200,
+    height = 200,
+    positioning = "flex",
+    flexDirection = "horizontal",
+    overflow = "scroll",
+    scrollbarPlacement = "reserve-space",
+    scrollbarBalance = true,
+  })
+
+  local child1 = FlexLove.new({
+    width = 100,
+    height = "100%",
+    parent = container
+  })
+
+  container:layoutChildren()
+
+  local reservedW, reservedH = container._scrollManager:getReservedSpace(container)
+  
+  -- Should reserve double the space (16 * 2 = 32)
+  luaunit.assertEquals(reservedH, 32, "Should reserve doubled height for balance")
+  
+  -- Child height should account for balanced space
+  luaunit.assertEquals(child1.height, 168, "Child height should be 200 - 32")
+end
+
+function TestScrollbarPlacement:test_scrollbar_balance_both()
+  -- Test scrollbarBalance with both scrollbars
+  local container = FlexLove.new({
+    width = 200,
+    height = 200,
+    positioning = "flex",
+    overflow = "scroll",
+    scrollbarPlacement = "reserve-space",
+    scrollbarBalance = true,
+  })
+
+  local child1 = FlexLove.new({
+    width = "100%",
+    height = "100%",
+    parent = container
+  })
+
+  container:layoutChildren()
+
+  local reservedW, reservedH = container._scrollManager:getReservedSpace(container)
+  
+  -- Both should reserve double the space
+  luaunit.assertEquals(reservedW, 32, "Should reserve doubled width for balance")
+  luaunit.assertEquals(reservedH, 32, "Should reserve doubled height for balance")
+  
+  -- Child should be sized to balanced available space
+  luaunit.assertEquals(child1.width, 168, "Child width should be 200 - 32")
+  luaunit.assertEquals(child1.height, 168, "Child height should be 200 - 32")
+end
+
 if not _G.RUNNING_ALL_TESTS then
   os.exit(luaunit.LuaUnit.run())
 end