diff --git a/res/themes/dark/css/dark.scss b/res/themes/dark/css/dark.scss
index 5a37d0368e..f7e78c86c3 100644
--- a/res/themes/dark/css/dark.scss
+++ b/res/themes/dark/css/dark.scss
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
-@import "_base.scss";
+@import "../../light/css/_base.scss";
 @import "_dark.scss";
-@import "../_components.scss";
+@import "../../../../res/css/_components.scss";
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/res/themes/light/css/_base.scss b/res/themes/light/css/_base.scss
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..51d2f70f78
--- /dev/null
+++ b/res/themes/light/css/_base.scss
@@ -0,0 +1,182 @@
+/* Open Sans lacks combining diacritics, so these will fall through
+   to the next font.  Helevetica's diacritics however do not combine
+   nicely with Open Sans (on OSX, at least) and result in a huge
+   horizontal mess.  Arial empirically gets it right, hence prioritising
+   Arial here. */
+$font-family: 'Open Sans', Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif;
+
+// typical text (dark-on-white in light skin)
+$primary-fg-color: #454545;
+$primary-bg-color: #ffffff;
+
+// used for dialog box text
+$light-fg-color: #747474;
+
+// used for focusing form controls
+$focus-bg-color: #dddddd;
+
+// button UI (white-on-green in light skin)
+$accent-fg-color: #ffffff;
+$accent-color: #76CFA6;
+
+$selection-fg-color: $primary-bg-color;
+
+$focus-brightness: 125%;
+
+// red warning colour
+$warning-color: #ff0064;
+$mention-user-pill-bg-color: #ff0064;
+$other-user-pill-bg-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
+
+// pinned events indicator
+$pinned-unread-color: #ff0064; // $warning-color
+$pinned-color: #888;
+
+// informational plinth
+$info-plinth-bg-color: #f7f7f7;
+$info-plinth-fg-color: #888;
+
+$preview-bar-bg-color: #f7f7f7;
+
+// left-panel style muted accent color
+$secondary-accent-color: #eaf5f0;
+$tertiary-accent-color: #d3efe1;
+
+// used by RoomDirectory permissions
+$plinth-bg-color: $secondary-accent-color;
+
+// used by RoomDropTarget
+$droptarget-bg-color: rgba(255,255,255,0.5);
+
+// used by AddressSelector
+$selected-color: $secondary-accent-color;
+
+// selected for hoverover & selected event tiles
+$event-selected-color: #f7f7f7;
+
+// used for the hairline dividers in RoomView
+$primary-hairline-color: #e5e5e5;
+
+// used for the border of input text fields
+$input-border-color: #f0f0f0;
+
+// apart from login forms, which have stronger border
+$strong-input-border-color: #c7c7c7;
+
+// used for UserSettings EditableText
+$input-underline-color: rgba(151, 151, 151, 0.5);
+$input-fg-color: rgba(74, 74, 74, 0.9);
+
+// context menus
+$menu-border-color: rgba(187, 187, 187, 0.5);
+$menu-bg-color: #f6f6f6;
+
+$avatar-initial-color: #ffffff;
+$avatar-bg-color: #ffffff;
+
+$h3-color: #3d3b39;
+
+$dialog-background-bg-color: #e9e9e9;
+$lightbox-background-bg-color: #000;
+
+$greyed-fg-color: #888;
+
+$neutral-badge-color: #dbdbdb;
+
+$preview-widget-bar-color: #ddd;
+$preview-widget-fg-color: $greyed-fg-color;
+
+$blockquote-bar-color: #ddd;
+$blockquote-fg-color: #777;
+
+$settings-grey-fg-color: #a2a2a2;
+
+$voip-decline-color: #f48080;
+$voip-accept-color: #80f480;
+
+$rte-bg-color: #e9e9e9;
+$rte-code-bg-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.04);
+$rte-room-pill-color: #aaa;
+
+// ********************
+
+$roomtile-name-color: rgba(69, 69, 69, 0.8);
+$roomtile-selected-bg-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.8);
+$roomtile-focused-bg-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);
+
+$roomtile-transparent-focused-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
+
+$roomsublist-background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.05);
+$roomsublist-label-fg-color: $h3-color;
+$roomsublist-label-bg-color: $tertiary-accent-color;
+$roomsublist-chevron-color: $accent-color;
+
+$panel-divider-color: rgba(118, 207, 166, 0.2);
+
+// ********************
+
+$widget-menu-bar-bg-color: $tertiary-accent-color;
+
+// ********************
+
+// event tile lifecycle
+$event-encrypting-color: #abddbc;
+$event-sending-color: #ddd;
+$event-notsent-color: #f44;
+
+// event redaction
+$event-redacted-fg-color: #e2e2e2;
+$event-redacted-border-color: #cccccc;
+
+// event timestamp
+$event-timestamp-color: #acacac;
+
+$edit-button-url: "../../img/icon_context_message.svg";
+$copy-button-url: "../../img/icon_copy_message.svg";
+
+// e2e
+$e2e-verified-color: #76cfa5; // N.B. *NOT* the same as $accent-color
+$e2e-unverified-color: #e8bf37;
+$e2e-warning-color: #ba6363;
+
+// presence
+$presence-online: #60de00;
+$presence-unavailable: #deb800;
+$presence-offline: #b7b7b7;
+
+/*** ImageView ***/
+$lightbox-bg-color: #454545;
+$lightbox-fg-color: #ffffff;
+$lightbox-border-color: #ffffff;
+
+// unused?
+$progressbar-color: #000;
+
+// ***** Mixins! *****
+
+@define-mixin mx_DialogButton {
+    /* align images in buttons (eg spinners) */
+    vertical-align: middle;
+    border: 0px;
+    border-radius: 36px;
+    font-family: $font-family;
+    font-size: 14px;
+    color: $accent-fg-color;
+    background-color: $accent-color;
+    width: auto;
+    padding: 7px;
+    padding-left: 1.5em;
+    padding-right: 1.5em;
+    cursor: pointer;
+    display: inline-block;
+    outline: none;
+}
+
+@define-mixin mx_DialogButton_hover {
+}
+
+@define-mixin mx_DialogButton_small {
+    @mixin mx_DialogButton;
+    font-size: 15px;
+    padding: 0px 1.5em 0px 1.5em;
+}
diff --git a/res/themes/light/css/light.scss b/res/themes/light/css/light.scss
index ea0f93d5a3..e2c553f30d 100644
--- a/res/themes/light/css/light.scss
+++ b/res/themes/light/css/light.scss
@@ -1,2 +1,2 @@
 @import "_base.scss";
-@import "../_components.scss";
\ No newline at end of file
+@import "../../../../res/css/_components.scss";
\ No newline at end of file