I bought a full-hd monitor recently, and I finally realized my dream of effectively using my screen space
(Huge image, but low quality, 100kb)
I'm using Rainmeter on the sides. Most of the elements (Skins) are from Gnome, some from Enigma. I also use a small program called MaxMax which keeps the window from maximizing to the whole screen. That way, the sidebars are ALWAYS visible (except when using fullscreen applications).