diff --git a/config.c b/config.c
index 39c8b767..49d07ddc 100644
--- a/config.c
+++ b/config.c
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include "rules.h"
 #include "screen.h"
 #include "widget.h"
+#include "xutil.h"
 #include "defconfig.h"
 
 #define AWESOME_CONFIG_FILE ".awesomerc" 
@@ -55,19 +56,7 @@ extern const NameFuncLink UicbList[];
 extern const NameFuncLink WidgetList[];
 extern const NameFuncLink LayoutsList[];
 
-/** Initialize color from X side
- * \param disp Display ref
- * \param scr Screen number
- * \param colorstr Color code
- */
-static XColor
-initxcolor(Display *disp, int scr, const char *colstr)
-{
-    XColor color;
-    if(!XAllocNamedColor(disp, DefaultColormap(disp, scr), colstr, &color, &color))
-        die("awesome: error, cannot allocate color '%s'\n", colstr);
-    return color;
-}
+
 static unsigned int
 get_numlockmask(Display *disp)
 {
@@ -346,6 +335,8 @@ config_parse(const char *confpatharg)
     static cfg_opt_t widget_textbox_opts[] =
     {
         CFG_STR((char *) "default", (char *) NULL, CFGF_NONE),
+        CFG_STR((char *) "fg", (char *) NULL, CFGF_NONE),
+        CFG_STR((char *) "bg", (char *) NULL, CFGF_NONE),
         CFG_END()
     };
     static cfg_opt_t statusbar_opts[] =
@@ -542,23 +533,17 @@ config_parse(const char *confpatharg)
         if(!virtscreen->font)
             eprint("awesome: cannot init font\n");
         /* Colors */
-        virtscreen->colors_normal[ColBorder] = initxcolor(globalconf.display,
-                                                         get_phys_screen(screen),
+        virtscreen->colors_normal[ColBorder] = initxcolor(screen,
                                                          cfg_getstr(cfg_colors, "normal_border"));
-        virtscreen->colors_normal[ColBG] = initxcolor(globalconf.display,
-                                                     get_phys_screen(screen),
+        virtscreen->colors_normal[ColBG] = initxcolor(screen,
                                                      cfg_getstr(cfg_colors, "normal_bg"));
-        virtscreen->colors_normal[ColFG] = initxcolor(globalconf.display,
-                                                     get_phys_screen(screen),
+        virtscreen->colors_normal[ColFG] = initxcolor(screen,
                                                      cfg_getstr(cfg_colors, "normal_fg"));
-        virtscreen->colors_selected[ColBorder] = initxcolor(globalconf.display,
-                                                           get_phys_screen(screen),
+        virtscreen->colors_selected[ColBorder] = initxcolor(screen,
                                                            cfg_getstr(cfg_colors, "focus_border"));
-        virtscreen->colors_selected[ColBG] = initxcolor(globalconf.display,
-                                                       get_phys_screen(screen),
+        virtscreen->colors_selected[ColBG] = initxcolor(screen,
                                                        cfg_getstr(cfg_colors, "focus_bg"));
-        virtscreen->colors_selected[ColFG] = initxcolor(globalconf.display,
-                                                       get_phys_screen(screen),
+        virtscreen->colors_selected[ColFG] = initxcolor(screen,
                                                        cfg_getstr(cfg_colors, "focus_fg"));
 
         /* Statusbar */
diff --git a/widgets/textbox.c b/widgets/textbox.c
index d0b7a8b0..5714b6ad 100644
--- a/widgets/textbox.c
+++ b/widgets/textbox.c
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #include <confuse.h>
 #include "util.h"
 #include "widget.h"
+#include "xutil.h"
 
 extern awesome_config globalconf;
 
@@ -9,6 +10,8 @@ typedef struct Data Data;
 struct Data
 {
     char *text;
+    XColor fg;
+    XColor bg;
 };
 
 
@@ -36,9 +39,7 @@ textbox_draw(Widget *widget, DrawCtx *ctx, int offset,
                                 offset,
                                 widget->alignment);
     drawtext(ctx, location, 0, width, vscreen.statusbar->height,
-             vscreen.font, d->text,
-             vscreen.colors_normal[ColFG], 
-             vscreen.colors_normal[ColBG]);
+             vscreen.font, d->text, d->fg, d->bg);
     return width;
 }
 
@@ -55,15 +56,27 @@ textbox_new(Statusbar *statusbar, cfg_t *config)
 {
     Widget *w;
     Data *d;
+    char *color;
 
     w = p_new(Widget, 1);
     common_new(w, statusbar, config);
     w->draw = textbox_draw;
     w->tell = textbox_tell;
 
+
     d = p_new(Data, 1);
     w->data = (void*) d;
 
+    if ((color = cfg_getstr(config, "fg")))
+        d->fg = initxcolor(statusbar->screen, color);
+    else
+        d->fg = globalconf.screens[statusbar->screen].colors_normal[ColFG];
+
+    if ((color = cfg_getstr(config, "bg")))
+        d->bg = initxcolor(statusbar->screen, color);
+    else
+        d->bg = globalconf.screens[statusbar->screen].colors_normal[ColBG];
+
     update(w, cfg_getstr(config, "default"));
     return w;
 }
diff --git a/xutil.c b/xutil.c
index f8edc68b..358a44a7 100644
--- a/xutil.c
+++ b/xutil.c
@@ -18,7 +18,6 @@
  * 51 Franklin Street, Fifth Floor, Boston, MA 02110-1301 USA.
  *
  */
-
 #include <X11/Xutil.h>
 #include <X11/Xatom.h>
 #include <X11/extensions/Xinerama.h>
@@ -113,4 +112,25 @@ xgettextprop(Display *disp, Window w, Atom atom, char *text, ssize_t textlen)
     return True;
 }
 
+
+/** Initialize an X color
+ * \param screen Screen number
+ * \param colorstr Color specification
+ */
+XColor
+initxcolor(int screen, const char *colstr)
+{
+    XColor screenColor, exactColor;
+    int ret, physcreen = get_phys_screen(screen);
+
+    ret = XAllocNamedColor(globalconf.display, 
+                           DefaultColormap(globalconf.display, physcreen),
+                           colstr,
+                           &screenColor,
+                           &exactColor);
+    if(!ret)
+        die("awesome: error, cannot allocate color '%s'\n", colstr);
+    return screenColor;
+}
+
 // vim: filetype=c:expandtab:shiftwidth=4:tabstop=8:softtabstop=4:encoding=utf-8:textwidth=80
diff --git a/xutil.h b/xutil.h
index f0608e1b..db5d3fca 100644
--- a/xutil.h
+++ b/xutil.h
@@ -23,8 +23,10 @@
 #define AWESOME_XUTIL_H
 
 #include "common.h"
+#include "screen.h"
 
 Bool xgettextprop(Display *, Window, Atom, char *, ssize_t);
+XColor initxcolor(int, const char *);
 UICB_PROTO(uicb_spawn);
 UICB_PROTO(uicb_exec);