When a folder is empty, there should be a message: There is no document do display in this folder. You can drag'n drop some from your Desktop or use the Creation actions. It should be displayed both under the table header and on the thumbnail view.
A message should also be added when displaying empty collections. "There is no document in this collection. You can add a document either from the document itself (see top-right actions) or from bulk actions on documents selection."