diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 8692f88..d42fdfd 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,10 @@ The information below the fancy dynamic ASCII art comes from a modular informati
 
 The `welcome` script from the `bin` directory can be installed anywhere in your `$PATH`. `~/bin` makes sense, but it can be any directory.
 
+### Setup a configuration directory
+
+The configuration of `welcome` can either be stored in `~/.welcome` or in `$XDG_CONFIG_HOME/welcome` (which defaults to `~/.config/welcome`). Please create this directory and place all files from the following steps into it.
+
 ### Install figlet, a dependency of welcome
 
 [figlet](http://www.figlet.org) is a command line tool to generate fancy ASCII art from text and is a required depencency of welcome.
@@ -29,7 +33,7 @@ The `welcome` script from the `bin` directory can be installed anywhere in your
 	toast arm ftp://ftp.figlet.org/pub/figlet/program/unix/figlet-2.2.5.tar.gz
 	```
 
-2. Get colossal, a figlet ASCII font that looks great but is not included by default: Download the file [colossal.flf](http://www.figlet.org/fonts/colossal.flf) from the figlet website and place it in `~/.welcome/colossal.flf`.
+2. Get colossal, a figlet ASCII font that looks great but is not included by default: Download the file [colossal.flf](http://www.figlet.org/fonts/colossal.flf) from the figlet website and place it in `.welcome/colossal.flf`.
 
 ### Create your own information providers
 
@@ -39,7 +43,7 @@ The reason welcome is so flexible is the modular information provider system. Th
 
 A summarizer is a function that returns one or more lines of text. Summarizers are expected to always output information and are therefore useful for information like the current date, the system uptime etc.
 
-You can place as many summarizers as you need in `~/.welcome/summarizers`. Each summarizer is a shell script with a specific structure:
+You can place as many summarizers as you need in `.welcome/summarizers`. Each summarizer is a shell script with a specific structure:
 
 ```bash
 function helloWorldSummarizer() {
@@ -54,17 +58,17 @@ This summarizer will output a simple `Hello: World`.
 
 The order of the summarizers gets defined by the order in the file system. So to force a specific order, simply prepend numbers, like so: `01-helloworld.sh`.
 
-**There is one thing you need to do before this can work: Your summarizers must actually be executable files to make sure only files you wanted to run are run, so please set `chmod +x ~/.welcome/summarizers/*`**.
+**There is one thing you need to do before this can work: Your summarizers must actually be executable files to make sure only files you wanted to run are run, so please set `chmod +x .welcome/summarizers/*`**.
 
 #### Warners
 
 Warners are the second kind of information provider. The difference to summarizers is that a warner does not have to output anything. They are useful for information that is only relevant in specific situations (for example when a package update is available like in the screenshot above).
 
-You can place as many warners as you need in `~/.welcome/warners`. Warners are arbitrary binaries that simply output text.
+You can place as many warners as you need in `.welcome/warners`. Warners are arbitrary binaries that simply output text.
 
 The order of the warners also gets defined by the order in the file system. So to force a specific order, simply prepend numbers, like so: `01-helloworld.sh`.
 
-**Same here: Please set `chmod +x ~/.welcome/warners/*` to make sure only files you wanted to run are run**.
+**Same here: Please set `chmod +x .welcome/warners/*` to make sure only files you wanted to run are run**.
 
 #### Examples
 
diff --git a/bin/welcome b/bin/welcome
index b95be71..7d3d714 100755
--- a/bin/welcome
+++ b/bin/welcome
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 ########################################################################
 # Prints a login welcome message with status information and ASCII art
 # This tool relies on a modular information provider setup in ~/.welcome
-# See README for detailed information
+# or $XDG_CONFIG_HOME/welcome; see README for detailed information
 #
 # Usage: welcome
 ########################################################################
@@ -12,6 +12,14 @@
 # Define indentation
 indentation='	'
 
+# Detect configuration path
+configPath=${XDG_CONFIG_HOME:-$HOME/.config}
+if [[ -d "$configPath/welcome" ]]; then
+	configPath="$configPath/welcome"
+else
+	configPath="$HOME/.welcome"
+fi
+
 # -----------------------------------------
 # Check for availability of files and tools
 
@@ -22,15 +30,15 @@ if ! command -v figlet &> /dev/null; then
 	echo -e "\033[31mWelcome anyway. :)\033[0m"
 	exit 1
 fi
-if [[ ! -d ~/.welcome ]]; then
-	echo -e "\033[34m~/.welcome\033[31m does not exist.\033[0m"
+if [[ ! -d "$configPath" ]]; then
+	echo -e "\033[31mCould not find configuration directory.\033[0m"
 	echo -e "\033[31mPlease follow the installation instructions in \033[34mREADME\033[31m.\033[0m"
 	echo
 	echo -e "\033[31mWelcome anyway. :)\033[0m"
 	exit 1
 fi
-if [[ ! -f ~/.welcome/colossal.flf ]]; then
-	echo -e "\033[34m~/.welcome/colossal.flf\033[31m does not exist.\033[0m"
+if [[ ! -f "$configPath/colossal.flf" ]]; then
+	echo -e "\033[34m$configPath/colossal.flf\033[31m does not exist.\033[0m"
 	echo -e "\033[31mPlease follow the installation instructions in \033[34mREADME\033[31m.\033[0m"
 	echo
 	echo -e "\033[31mWelcome anyway. :)\033[0m"
@@ -56,7 +64,7 @@ function echoPrepare() {
 computerName=${HOSTNAME%%.*}
 
 # Generate ASCII art and indent every line of it
-ascii=$(figlet -k -f ~/.welcome/colossal.flf -w 150 "$USER@$computerName")
+ascii=$(figlet -k -f "$configPath/colossal.flf" -w 150 "$USER@$computerName")
 asciiIndented=$(echo "$ascii" | sed "s/^/$indentation/")
 
 # Generate user and hostname string (colored for output, uncolored for length determination)
@@ -89,7 +97,7 @@ echoPrepare "$indentation$userAndHostnameCentered"
 # --------------------
 # Load env summarizers
 
-if ls ~/.welcome/summarizers/*.sh &> /dev/null; then
+if ls "$configPath/summarizers/"*.sh &> /dev/null; then
 	echoPrepare
 	
 	# Store for summarizers
@@ -120,7 +128,7 @@ if ls ~/.welcome/summarizers/*.sh &> /dev/null; then
 	}
 	
 	# Load the summarizer files and let them register themselves
-	for summarizer in ~/.welcome/summarizers/*.sh; do
+	for summarizer in "$configPath/summarizers/"*.sh; do
 		# Check if the file is executable (security check)
 		if [[ ! -x "$summarizer" ]]; then
 			continue
@@ -151,7 +159,7 @@ fi
 # Load warners
 
 # Load the warner files
-for warner in ~/.welcome/warners/*; do
+for warner in "$configPath/warners/"*; do
 	# Check if the file is executable (security check)
 	if [[ ! -x "$warner" ]]; then
 		continue