diff --git a/common/log.c b/common/log.c
index 2cc7289c5..bf1246bba 100644
--- a/common/log.c
+++ b/common/log.c
@@ -1,14 +1,20 @@
+#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 199506L
 #include <signal.h>
 #include <stdarg.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
+#include <time.h>
+#include <unistd.h>
 #include "log.h"
 
 void sway_terminate(int code);
 
+
+
 void _sway_abort(const char *format, ...) {
 	va_list args;
 	va_start(args, format);
-	_wlr_vlog(L_ERROR, format, args);
+	_sway_vlog(L_ERROR, format, args);
 	va_end(args);
 	sway_terminate(EXIT_FAILURE);
 }
@@ -20,7 +26,7 @@ bool _sway_assert(bool condition, const char *format, ...) {
 
 	va_list args;
 	va_start(args, format);
-	_wlr_vlog(L_ERROR, format, args);
+	_sway_vlog(L_ERROR, format, args);
 	va_end(args);
 
 #ifndef NDEBUG
@@ -29,3 +35,81 @@ bool _sway_assert(bool condition, const char *format, ...) {
 
 	return false;
 }
+
+static bool colored = true;
+static log_importance_t log_importance = L_ERROR;
+
+static const char *verbosity_colors[] = {
+	[L_SILENT] = "",
+	[L_ERROR ] = "\x1B[1;31m",
+	[L_INFO  ] = "\x1B[1;34m",
+	[L_DEBUG ] = "\x1B[1;30m",
+};
+
+static void log_stderr(log_importance_t verbosity, const char *fmt,
+		va_list args) {
+	if (verbosity > log_importance) {
+		return;
+	}
+	// prefix the time to the log message
+	struct tm result;
+	time_t t = time(NULL);
+	struct tm *tm_info = localtime_r(&t, &result);
+	char buffer[26];
+
+	// generate time prefix
+	strftime(buffer, sizeof(buffer), "%F %T - ", tm_info);
+	fprintf(stderr, "%s", buffer);
+
+	unsigned c = (verbosity < L_LAST) ? verbosity : L_LAST - 1;
+
+	if (colored && isatty(STDERR_FILENO)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "%s", verbosity_colors[c]);
+	}
+
+	vfprintf(stderr, fmt, args);
+
+	if (colored && isatty(STDERR_FILENO)) {
+		fprintf(stderr, "\x1B[0m");
+	}
+	fprintf(stderr, "\n");
+}
+
+static log_callback_t log_callback = log_stderr;
+
+void sway_log_init(log_importance_t verbosity, log_callback_t callback) {
+	if (verbosity < L_LAST) {
+		log_importance = verbosity;
+	}
+	if (callback) {
+		log_callback = callback;
+	}
+}
+
+void _sway_vlog(log_importance_t verbosity, const char *fmt, va_list args) {
+	log_callback(verbosity, fmt, args);
+}
+
+void _sway_log(log_importance_t verbosity, const char *fmt, ...) {
+	va_list args;
+	va_start(args, fmt);
+	log_callback(verbosity, fmt, args);
+	va_end(args);
+}
+
+// strips the path prefix from filepath
+// will try to strip SWAY_SRC_DIR as well as a relative src dir
+// e.g. '/src/build/sway/util/log.c' and
+// '../util/log.c' will both be stripped to
+// 'util/log.c'
+const char *sway_strip_path(const char *filepath) {
+	static int srclen = sizeof(SWAY_SRC_DIR);
+	if (strstr(filepath, SWAY_SRC_DIR) == filepath) {
+		filepath += srclen;
+	} else if (*filepath == '.') {
+		while (*filepath == '.' || *filepath == '/') {
+			++filepath;
+		}
+	}
+	return filepath;
+}
diff --git a/include/log.h b/include/log.h
index a97481274..2599c9aa2 100644
--- a/include/log.h
+++ b/include/log.h
@@ -1,16 +1,39 @@
 #ifndef _SWAY_LOG_H
 #define _SWAY_LOG_H
-#include <stdbool.h>
+
 #include <wlr/util/log.h>
+#include <stdbool.h>
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <string.h>
+#include <errno.h>
 
 void _sway_abort(const char *filename, ...) ATTRIB_PRINTF(1, 2);
 #define sway_abort(FMT, ...) \
-    _sway_abort("[%s:%d] " FMT, wlr_strip_path(__FILE__), __LINE__, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+    _sway_abort("[%s:%d] " FMT, sway_strip_path(__FILE__), __LINE__, ##__VA_ARGS__)
 
 bool _sway_assert(bool condition, const char* format, ...) ATTRIB_PRINTF(2, 3);
 #define sway_assert(COND, FMT, ...) \
-	_sway_assert(COND, "[%s:%d] %s:" FMT, wlr_strip_path(__FILE__), __LINE__, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+	_sway_assert(COND, "[%s:%d] %s:" FMT, sway_strip_path(__FILE__), __LINE__, __PRETTY_FUNCTION__, ##__VA_ARGS__)
 
 void error_handler(int sig);
 
+typedef void (*log_callback_t)(log_importance_t importance, const char *fmt, va_list args);
+
+// Will log all messages less than or equal to `verbosity`
+// If `callback` is NULL, sway will use its default logger.
+void sway_log_init(log_importance_t verbosity, log_callback_t callback);
+
+void _sway_log(log_importance_t verbosity, const char *format, ...) ATTRIB_PRINTF(2, 3);
+void _sway_vlog(log_importance_t verbosity, const char *format, va_list args) ATTRIB_PRINTF(2, 0);
+const char *sway_strip_path(const char *filepath);
+
+#define sway_log(verb, fmt, ...) \
+	_sway_log(verb, "[%s:%d] " fmt, sway_strip_path(__FILE__), __LINE__, ##__VA_ARGS__)
+
+#define sway_vlog(verb, fmt, args) \
+	_sway_vlog(verb, "[%s:%d] " fmt, sway_strip_path(__FILE__), __LINE__, args)
+
+#define sway_log_errno(verb, fmt, ...) \
+	sway_log(verb, fmt ": %s", ##__VA_ARGS__, strerror(errno))
+
 #endif
diff --git a/meson.build b/meson.build
index d4ee1a118..890c1787f 100644
--- a/meson.build
+++ b/meson.build
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ project(
 add_project_arguments('-Wno-unused-parameter', language: 'c')
 add_project_arguments('-Wno-unused-function', language: 'c')
 add_project_arguments('-Wno-unused-result', language: 'c')
+add_project_arguments('-DSWAY_SRC_DIR="@0@"'.format(meson.source_root()), language: 'c')
 
 cc = meson.get_compiler('c')