diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fee6d615..b51fc7fb 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -20,6 +20,8 @@ git checkout -b $new_branch template
 # generate hardware config
 nixos-generate-config --show-hardware-config > ./hosts/${new_host}.nix
 
+# ensure configuration lives in expected location
+ln -s $PWD /etc/nixos
 
 # `rebuild` wrapper for `nix build` bypassing `nixos-rebuild`
 # Usage: rebuild [host] {switch|boot|test|dry-activate}
@@ -146,13 +148,18 @@ folder by default.
 To keep [profiles](profiles) reusable across configurations, secrets should
 only be imported from the `users` or [`hosts`](hosts) directory.
 
-## Modules and Packages
+## Modules, Packages and Overlays
 All expressions in both [modules/defualt.nix](modules/default.nix) and
 [pkgs/default.nix](pkgs/default.nix) are available globally, anywhere else in the
 repo. They are additionally included in the `nixosModules` or `overlays` flake
 outputs. Packages can manually be added to [flake.nix](flake.nix) for inclusion
 in the `packages` output as well.
 
+All overlays should be defined in the [overlays](overlays) directory. They will
+be automatically pulled in for use by all configurations. Nix command line tools
+will be able to read overlays from here as well since it is set as
+`nixpkgs-overlays` in `NIX_PATH`.
+
 The directory structure is identical to nixpkgs to provide a kind of staging area
 for any modules or packages we might be wanting to merge there later. If your not
 familiar or can't be bothered, simply dropping a valid nix file and pointing the
diff --git a/configuration.nix b/configuration.nix
index 73cf2158..f8542011 100644
--- a/configuration.nix
+++ b/configuration.nix
@@ -19,8 +19,11 @@ in {
   ] ++ config;
 
   networking.hostName = hostname;
-  nix.nixPath =
-    [ "nixpkgs=${<nixpkgs>}" "nixos-config=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix" ];
+  nix.nixPath = [
+    "nixpkgs=${<nixpkgs>}"
+    "nixos-config=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix"
+    "nixpkgs-overlays=/etc/nixos/overlays"
+  ];
 
   nixpkgs.overlays = lib.singleton (import ./pkgs);
 }
diff --git a/flake.nix b/flake.nix
index 97952ccf..d607c021 100644
--- a/flake.nix
+++ b/flake.nix
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
 
   epoch = 201909;
 
-  inputs.nixpkgs.url = "github:nrdxp/nixpkgs/fork";
+  inputs.nixpkgs.url = "github:nrdxp/nixpkgs/fork-010520";
   inputs.home.url = "github:nrdxp/home-manager/flakes";
 
   outputs = args@{ self, home, nixpkgs }:
     let
-      inherit (builtins) listToAttrs baseNameOf;
+      inherit (builtins) listToAttrs baseNameOf attrNames readDir;
       inherit (nixpkgs.lib) removeSuffix;
 
       pkgs = import nixpkgs {
@@ -22,7 +22,10 @@
 
       overlay = import ./pkgs;
 
-      overlays = [ self.overlay ];
+      overlays = let
+        overlays = map (name: import (./overlays + "/${name}"))
+          (attrNames (readDir ./overlays));
+      in overlays;
 
       packages.x86_64-linux = {
         inherit (pkgs) sddm-chili dejavu_nerdfont purs;
diff --git a/hosts/default.nix b/hosts/default.nix
index 79158172..0ecedae8 100644
--- a/hosts/default.nix
+++ b/hosts/default.nix
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ let
           nix.nixPath = [
             "nixpkgs=${nixpkgs}"
             "nixos-config=/etc/nixos/configuration.nix"
+            "nixpkgs-overlays=/etc/nixos/overlays"
           ];
           system.configurationRevision = self.rev;
 
diff --git a/overlays/cursor.nix b/overlays/cursor.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b73a0618
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/cursor.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+final: prev: {
+  # set default cursor theme when installed
+  cursor = prev.writeTextDir "share/icons/default/index.theme" ''
+    [icon theme]
+    Inherits=Adwaita
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/overlays/kakoune.nix b/overlays/kakoune.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..4e4aa520
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/kakoune.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+final: prev: {
+  kakoune = prev.kakoune.override {
+    configure.plugins = with final.kakounePlugins; [
+      (kak-fzf.override { fzf = final.skim; })
+      kak-auto-pairs
+      kak-buffers
+      kak-powerline
+    ];
+  };
+
+  # wrapper to specify config dir
+  kakoune-config = prev.writeShellScriptBin "k" ''
+    XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/etc/xdg exec ${final.kakoune}/bin/kak "$@"
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/overlays/pkgs.nix b/overlays/pkgs.nix
new file mode 120000
index 00000000..f87a3ef9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/pkgs.nix
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+../pkgs/default.nix
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/overlays/qute.nix b/overlays/qute.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..92165ab3
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/qute.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+final: prev: {
+  # wrapper to specify config file
+  qute = prev.writeShellScriptBin "qute" ''
+    exec ${prev.qutebrowser}/bin/qutebrowser -C /etc/xdg/qutebrowser/config.py "$@"
+  '';
+}
diff --git a/overlays/redshift.nix b/overlays/redshift.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a199893c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/redshift.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+final: prev: {
+  # with sway/wayland support
+  redshift = prev.redshift.overrideAttrs (o: {
+    src = prev.fetchFromGitHub {
+      owner = "CameronNemo";
+      repo = "redshift";
+      rev = "39c162ca487a59857c2eac231318f4b28855798b";
+      sha256 = "1in27draskwwi097wiam26bx2szcf58297am3gkyng1ms3rz6i58";
+    };
+  });
+}
diff --git a/overlays/wl-clipboard.nix b/overlays/wl-clipboard.nix
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..d9f288c5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/overlays/wl-clipboard.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+final: prev: {
+  # nixpkgs version causing issues for me
+  wl-clipboard = prev.wl-clipboard.overrideAttrs (o: {
+    src = prev.fetchFromGitHub {
+      owner = "bugaevc";
+      repo = "wl-clipboard";
+      rev = "c010972e6b0d2eb3002c49a6a1b5620ff5f7c910";
+      sha256 = "020l3jy9gsj6gablwdfzp1wfa8yblay3axdjc56i9q8pbhz7g12j";
+    };
+  });
+}
diff --git a/profiles/develop/kakoune/default.nix b/profiles/develop/kakoune/default.nix
index f988b2e2..5bb67eaf 100644
--- a/profiles/develop/kakoune/default.nix
+++ b/profiles/develop/kakoune/default.nix
@@ -17,31 +17,4 @@
     "xdg/kak/autoload/default".source =
       "${pkgs.kakoune-unwrapped}/share/kak/rc";
   };
-
-  nixpkgs.overlays = let
-    kak = final: prev: {
-      kakoune = prev.kakoune.override {
-        configure.plugins = with prev.kakounePlugins; [
-          (kak-fzf.override { fzf = prev.skim; })
-          kak-auto-pairs
-          kak-buffers
-          kak-powerline
-        ];
-      };
-
-      kakoune-config = prev.writeShellScriptBin "k" ''
-        XDG_CONFIG_HOME=/etc/xdg exec ${final.kakoune}/bin/kak "$@"
-      '';
-
-      kakoune-unwrapped = prev.kakoune-unwrapped.overrideAttrs (o: rec {
-        version = "2019.12.10";
-        src = prev.fetchFromGitHub {
-          repo = "kakoune";
-          owner = "mawww";
-          rev = "v${version}";
-          hash = "sha256-TnRQ73bIQGavXNp+wrKtYHgGem+R6JDWt333z2izYzE=";
-        };
-      });
-    };
-  in [ kak ];
 }
diff --git a/profiles/graphical/default.nix b/profiles/graphical/default.nix
index fd80f6ee..2371bbc1 100644
--- a/profiles/graphical/default.nix
+++ b/profiles/graphical/default.nix
@@ -64,21 +64,4 @@ in {
       theme = "chili";
     };
   };
-
-  nixpkgs.overlays = let
-    overlay = final: prev: {
-      cursor = prev.writeTextDir "share/icons/default/index.theme" ''
-        [icon theme]
-        Inherits=Adwaita
-      '';
-
-      ffmpeg-full = prev.ffmpeg-full.override {
-        svt-av1 = prev.svt-av1;
-        dav1d = prev.dav1d;
-        libaom = null;
-        opencore-amr = null;
-        libopus = prev.libopus;
-      };
-    };
-  in [ overlay ];
 }
diff --git a/profiles/graphical/qutebrowser/default.nix b/profiles/graphical/qutebrowser/default.nix
index b6d26536..f6709bbd 100644
--- a/profiles/graphical/qutebrowser/default.nix
+++ b/profiles/graphical/qutebrowser/default.nix
@@ -16,12 +16,4 @@ in {
 
     systemPackages = with pkgs; [ qute qutebrowser mpv youtubeDL ];
   };
-
-  nixpkgs.overlays = let
-    overlay = final: prev: {
-      qute = prev.writeShellScriptBin "qute" ''
-        exec ${prev.qutebrowser}/bin/qutebrowser -C /etc/xdg/qutebrowser/config.py "$@"
-      '';
-    };
-  in [ overlay ];
 }
diff --git a/profiles/graphical/sway/default.nix b/profiles/graphical/sway/default.nix
index ea256dc5..746d50f9 100644
--- a/profiles/graphical/sway/default.nix
+++ b/profiles/graphical/sway/default.nix
@@ -87,25 +87,4 @@ in {
       RestartSec = 3;
     };
   };
-
-  nixpkgs.overlays = let
-    overlay = final: prev: {
-      redshift = prev.redshift.overrideAttrs (o: {
-        src = prev.fetchFromGitHub {
-          owner = "CameronNemo";
-          repo = "redshift";
-          rev = "39c162ca487a59857c2eac231318f4b28855798b";
-          sha256 = "1in27draskwwi097wiam26bx2szcf58297am3gkyng1ms3rz6i58";
-        };
-      });
-      wl-clipboard = prev.wl-clipboard.overrideAttrs (o: {
-        src = prev.fetchFromGitHub {
-          owner = "bugaevc";
-          repo = "wl-clipboard";
-          rev = "c010972e6b0d2eb3002c49a6a1b5620ff5f7c910";
-          sha256 = "020l3jy9gsj6gablwdfzp1wfa8yblay3axdjc56i9q8pbhz7g12j";
-        };
-      });
-    };
-  in [ overlay ];
 }