diff --git a/application/config/.gitignore b/application/config/.gitignore
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..2b706e2b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/application/config/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+local/*
+staging/*
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/application/storage/db/.gitignore b/application/storage/db/.gitignore
index e69de29b..6a91a439 100644
--- a/application/storage/db/.gitignore
+++ b/application/storage/db/.gitignore
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+*.sqlite
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/public/index.php b/public/index.php
index aed6bb74..30ea8a1b 100644
--- a/public/index.php
+++ b/public/index.php
@@ -15,8 +15,9 @@
 define('BASE_PATH', realpath('../').'/');
 define('APP_PATH', realpath('../application').'/');
 define('SYS_PATH', realpath('../system').'/');
-define('PUBLIC_PATH', realpath(__DIR__.'/'));
+define('CONFIG_PATH', APP_PATH.'config/');
 define('PACKAGE_PATH', APP_PATH.'packages/');
+define('PUBLIC_PATH', realpath(__DIR__.'/'));
 
 // --------------------------------------------------------------
 // Define the PHP file extension.
diff --git a/system/config.php b/system/config.php
index ec459195..5cc0d30f 100644
--- a/system/config.php
+++ b/system/config.php
@@ -95,17 +95,24 @@ class Config {
 	/**
 	 * Load all of the configuration items from a file.
 	 *
+	 * If it exists, the configuration file in the application/config directory will be loaded first.
+	 * Any environment specific configuration files will be merged with the root file.
+	 *
 	 * @param  string  $file
 	 * @return void
 	 */
 	public static function load($file)
 	{
-		$directory = (isset($_SERVER['LARAVEL_ENV'])) ? $_SERVER['LARAVEL_ENV'].'/' : '';
+		if (array_key_exists($file, static::$items)) return;
 
-		if ( ! array_key_exists($file, static::$items) and file_exists($path = APP_PATH.'config/'.$directory.$file.EXT))
+		$config = (file_exists($path = CONFIG_PATH.$file.EXT)) ? require $path : array();
+
+		if (isset($_SERVER['LARAVEL_ENV']) and file_exists($path = CONFIG_PATH.$_SERVER['LARAVEL_ENV'].'/'.$file.EXT))
 		{
-			static::$items[$file] = require $path;
+			$config = array_merge($config, require $path);
 		}
+
+		return static::$items[$file] = $config;
 	}
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file