diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 3617ea1..a0f4871 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,3 +12,14 @@
   * `nix-shell -p nixFlakes`
   * `sudo _NIXOS_REBUILD_REEXEC=1 nixos-install --no-root-passwd --flake .#hostname`
   * ~~`nixos-install --no-root-passwd --flake .#hostname`~~
+
+
+# redesign checklist
+- [ ] lorri or similar
+- [ ] whole home manager stuff
+- [ ] baseconfiguration handled
+- [ ] programs handled
+- [X] locale/fonts
+- [X] zsh
+- [ ] gnupg agent
+
diff --git a/modules/base.nix b/modules/base.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bbef289
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/base.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ...} :
+with lib; {
+  options.elss.base.enable = mkEnableOption "Set the base configuration for the system";
+  config = mkIf config.elss.base.enable {
+    services = {
+      dbus = {
+        enable = true;
+        packages = with pkgs; [ gnome3.dconf ];
+      };
+    };
+
+    programs = {
+      mtr.enable = true;
+      dconf.enable = true;
+    };
+
+    documentation = {
+      enable = true;
+      man.enable = true;
+      dev.enable = true;
+    };
+
+    environment.systemPackages = with pkgs; [
+      alacritty.terminfo
+      bintools
+      clang
+      elfutils
+      emacs-all-the-icon-fonts
+      gdb
+      git
+      procs
+      rnis-lsp
+      sysstat
+      tcpdump
+      unzip
+      wget
+    ];
+
+    elss = {
+      locale.enable = mkDefault true;
+      zsh.enable = mkdDefault true;
+    };
+
+    boot = {
+      loader = {
+        systemd-boot.enable = mkDefault true;
+        efi.canTouchEfiVariables = mkDefault true;
+      };
+      kernelPackages = mkDefault pkgs.linuxPackages_latest;
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/modules/locale.nix b/modules/locale.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ac3b009
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/locale.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+{ config, pkgs, lib, ...}:
+with lib; {
+  options.elss.locale.enable = mkEnableOption "setup default locale and font-handling";
+
+  config = mkIf config.elss.locale.enable {
+    time.timeZone = "Europe/Berlin";
+    i18n.defaultLocale = "en_GB.UTF-8";
+
+    fonts = {
+      enableDefaultFonts = true;
+      fonts = with pkgs; [
+        hasklig
+        # corefonts # not free
+        liberation_ttf
+        comic-relief
+        dejavu_fonts
+        gyre-fonts
+        open-sans
+        noto-fonts
+        noto-fonts-emoji
+        noto-fonts-extra
+        roboto
+        roboto-mono
+        (nerdfonts.override { fonts = [ "Hasklig" ]; })
+        material-icons
+        weather-icons
+      ];
+
+      fontconfig = {
+        enable = true;
+        # defaultFonts = {
+        #   serif = [ "TeX Gyre Heros" ];
+        #   emoji = [ "Noto Color Emoji" ];
+        #   sansSerif = [ "TeX Gyre Pagella" ];
+        #   monospace = [ "Hasklug Nerd Font Mono" ];
+        # };
+      };
+    };
+  };
+}
diff --git a/modules/zsh.nix b/modules/zsh.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..66ed343
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/zsh.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+{ config, pkgs, lib, ...}:
+with lib; {
+  options.elss.zsh.enable = mkEnableOption "Setup systemwide zsh";
+  config = {
+    environment = {
+      shells = [ pkgs.zsh ];
+      pathsToLink = [ "/share/zsh/" ];
+      sessionVariables = rec {
+        XDG_CACHE_HOME  = "\${HOME}/.cache";
+        XDG_CONFIG_HOME = "\${HOME}/.config";
+        XDG_BIN_HOME    = "\${HOME}/.local/bin";
+        XDG_DATA_HOME   = "\${HOME}/.local/share";
+
+        PATH = [ 
+          "\${XDG_BIN_HOME}"
+        ];
+      };
+    };
+    programs = {
+      zsh = {
+        enable = true;
+        enableCompletion = true;
+        enableGlobalCompInit = true;
+        autosuggestions.enable = true;
+        syntaxHighlighting = {
+          enable = true;
+          highlighters = [ "main" "brackets" "root" "line" ];
+          #styles = { cursor = "standout,underline"; };
+        };
+        setOptions = [ "auto_pushd" "correct" "nocaseglob" "rcexpandparam" "numericglobsort" "nobeep" "appendhistory" ];
+      };
+    };
+  };
+}