diff --git a/Makefile b/Makefile
index 77bcbc0..fadb218 100644
--- a/Makefile
+++ b/Makefile
@@ -17,16 +17,23 @@ options:
 .c.o:
 	${CC} -c ${CFLAGS} $<
 
-${OBJ}: config.h config.mk
+${OBJ}: config.h theme_beg.h config.mk
 
-config.h:
-	cp config.def.h $@
+theme.h:
+	./xtheme
+
+theme_beg.h:
+	./themesetup
+
+config.h: theme.h
+	cp -n config.def.h $@
 
 dwm: ${OBJ}
 	${CC} -o $@ ${OBJ} ${LDFLAGS}
+	rm -f theme_{beg,end}.h
 
 clean:
-	rm -f dwm ${OBJ} dwm-${VERSION}.tar.gz
+	rm -f dwm ${OBJ} theme_{beg,end}.h dwm-${VERSION}.tar.gz
 
 dist: clean
 	mkdir -p dwm-${VERSION}
diff --git a/config.def.h b/config.def.h
index a2ac963..359c520 100644
--- a/config.def.h
+++ b/config.def.h
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 /* See LICENSE file for copyright and license details. */
 
+/* theme management */
+# include "theme_beg.h" /* this is a compile-time generated header file */
+# include "theme.h"
+
 /* appearance */
-static const unsigned int borderpx  = 1;        /* border pixel of windows */
-static const unsigned int snap      = 32;       /* snap pixel */
-static const int showbar            = 1;        /* 0 means no bar */
-static const int topbar             = 1;        /* 0 means bottom bar */
-static const char *fonts[]          = { "monospace:size=10" };
+static const unsigned int borderpx  = DWM_BORDERPX;        /* border pixel of windows */
+static const unsigned int snap      = DWM_SNAP;            /* snap pixel */
+static const int showbar            = DWM_SHOWBAR;         /* 0 means no bar */
+static const int topbar             = DWM_TOPBAR;          /* 0 means bottom bar */
+static const char *fonts[]          = DWM_FONT;
 static const char dmenufont[]       = "monospace:size=10";
 static const char col_gray1[]       = "#222222";
 static const char col_gray2[]       = "#444444";
@@ -13,9 +17,9 @@ static const char col_gray3[]       = "#bbbbbb";
 static const char col_gray4[]       = "#eeeeee";
 static const char col_cyan[]        = "#005577";
 static const char *colors[][3]      = {
-	/*               fg         bg         border   */
-	[SchemeNorm] = { col_gray3, col_gray1, col_gray2 },
-	[SchemeSel]  = { col_gray4, col_cyan,  col_cyan  },
+	/*               fg                 bg                 border   */
+	[SchemeNorm] = { DWM_FOREGROUND,    DWM_BACKGROUND,    DWM_BORDER },
+	[SchemeSel]  = { DWM_SELFOREGROUND, DWM_SELBACKGROUND, DWM_SELBORDER },
 };
 
 /* tagging */
@@ -60,6 +64,9 @@ static char dmenumon[2] = "0"; /* component of dmenucmd, manipulated in spawn()
 static const char *dmenucmd[] = { "dmenu_run", "-m", dmenumon, "-fn", dmenufont, "-nb", col_gray1, "-nf", col_gray3, "-sb", col_cyan, "-sf", col_gray4, NULL };
 static const char *termcmd[]  = { "st", NULL };
 
+/* theme management */
+# include "theme_end.h" /* this is a compile-time generated header file */
+
 static Key keys[] = {
 	/* modifier                     key        function        argument */
 	{ MODKEY,                       XK_p,      spawn,          {.v = dmenucmd } },
diff --git a/themesetup b/themesetup
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..e8710c1
--- /dev/null
+++ b/themesetup
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+echo \# if $(cat theme.h | cut -d' ' -f3 | sed "s/^/defined /;s/$/ ||/" | tr "\n" " ") 0 > theme_beg.h
+echo -e "# error (conflicting macro names)\n# endif" >> theme_beg.h
+cat theme.h | cut -d' ' -f3 | sed "s/^/# undef /;" > theme_end.h
diff --git a/xtable.md b/xtable.md
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ff87701
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xtable.md
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+|	TYPE	|	RESOURCE		|	DEFAULT VALUE		|	[ALTERNATIVE RESOURCE]	|
+|:---------:|:-----------------:|:---------------------:|:-------------------------:|
+|	U		|	borderpx		|	1					|							|
+|	U		|	snap			|	32					|							|
+|	I		|	showbar			|	1					|							|
+|	I		|	topbar			|	1					|							|
+|	SA		|	font			|	monospace:size=10	|							|
+|	S		|	foreground		|	#93a1a1				|							|
+|	S		|	background		|	#002b36				|							|
+|	S		|	border			|	#93a1a1				|	background				|
+|	S		|	selforeground	|	#073642				|	background				|
+|	S		|	selbackground	|	#2aa198				|	foreground				|
+|	S		|	selborder		|	#cb4b16				|	foreground				|
diff --git a/xtheme b/xtheme
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..9a2f299
--- /dev/null
+++ b/xtheme
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+prefix=dwm
+themeout=theme.h
+xtable=xtable.md
+
+rm -f $themeout
+
+set_resource ()
+{
+	T=$1
+	M=$2
+	V=$3
+
+	case $T in
+		S)
+			V=\"$V\"
+			;;
+		SA)
+			V="{\"$(echo $V | sed 's/, /", "/g')\"}"
+	esac
+
+	echo "# define $M $V" >> $themeout
+}
+
+cat "$xtable"												|
+	sed '1,2d;s/\(^|\t*\)\|\(|$\)//g;s/\t\+|\t\+/|/g'		|
+	while IFS='|' read T R D A
+	do
+		m=$(echo "$prefix"'_'"$R" | tr '[:lower:]' '[:upper:]')
+
+		l=''
+
+		for r in "$R" "$A"
+		do
+			[[ "$r" == '' ]] && continue
+
+			e=0
+
+			for p in "$prefix" ''
+			do
+				l="$(													\
+					xrdb -query											\
+						| grep -P "^$p\*?\.?$r:\s+\S+" | tail -n 1		\
+						| sed 's/\s\+/ /g' | cut -d' ' -f 2				\
+				)"
+
+				if [[ "$l" != '' ]]
+				then
+					e=1
+					set_resource $T $m "$l"
+					break
+				fi
+			done
+
+			[[ $e == 1 ]] && break
+		done
+
+		if [[ "$l" == '' ]]
+		then
+			set_resource $T $m "$D"
+		fi
+	done