diff --git a/docs/i3bar-protocol b/docs/i3bar-protocol
index 6cb04bf6..3ae14453 100644
--- a/docs/i3bar-protocol
+++ b/docs/i3bar-protocol
@@ -136,6 +136,10 @@ color::
 	when it is associated.
 	Colors are specified in hex (like in HTML), starting with a leading
 	hash sign. For example, +#ff0000+ means red.
+background::
+	Overrides the background color for this particular block.
+border::
+	Overrides the border color for this particular block.
 min_width::
 	The minimum width (in pixels) of the block. If the content of the
 	+full_text+ key take less space than the specified min_width, the block
@@ -207,6 +211,8 @@ An example of a block which uses all possible entries follows:
  "full_text": "E: 10.0.0.1 (1000 Mbit/s)",
  "short_text": "10.0.0.1",
  "color": "#00ff00",
+ "background": "#1c1c1c",
+ "border": "#ee0000",
  "min_width": 300,
  "align": "right",
  "urgent": false,
diff --git a/i3bar/include/common.h b/i3bar/include/common.h
index 4d2dbd35..7ab3441f 100644
--- a/i3bar/include/common.h
+++ b/i3bar/include/common.h
@@ -38,6 +38,8 @@ struct status_block {
     i3String *short_text;
 
     char *color;
+    char *background;
+    char *border;
 
     /* min_width can be specified either as a numeric value (in pixels) or as a
      * string. For strings, we set min_width to the measured text width of
diff --git a/i3bar/src/child.c b/i3bar/src/child.c
index 2b10be49..3570dde9 100644
--- a/i3bar/src/child.c
+++ b/i3bar/src/child.c
@@ -75,6 +75,8 @@ static void clear_statusline(struct statusline_head *head, bool free_resources)
             FREE(first->name);
             FREE(first->instance);
             FREE(first->min_width_str);
+            FREE(first->background);
+            FREE(first->border);
         }
 
         TAILQ_REMOVE(head, first, blocks);
@@ -205,6 +207,14 @@ static int stdin_string(void *context, const unsigned char *val, size_t len) {
         sasprintf(&(ctx->block.color), "%.*s", len, val);
         return 1;
     }
+    if (strcasecmp(ctx->last_map_key, "background") == 0) {
+        sasprintf(&(ctx->block.background), "%.*s", len, val);
+        return 1;
+    }
+    if (strcasecmp(ctx->last_map_key, "border") == 0) {
+        sasprintf(&(ctx->block.border), "%.*s", len, val);
+        return 1;
+    }
     if (strcasecmp(ctx->last_map_key, "markup") == 0) {
         ctx->block.pango_markup = (len == strlen("pango") && !strncasecmp((const char *)val, "pango", strlen("pango")));
         return 1;
diff --git a/i3bar/src/xcb.c b/i3bar/src/xcb.c
index 63b9863a..989b06c7 100644
--- a/i3bar/src/xcb.c
+++ b/i3bar/src/xcb.c
@@ -208,6 +208,9 @@ void refresh_statusline(bool use_short_text) {
             continue;
 
         block->width = predict_text_width(block->full_text);
+        /* Add padding for the border if we have to draw it. */
+        if (block->border)
+            block->width += logical_px(2);
 
         /* Compute offset and append for text aligment in min_width. */
         if (block->min_width <= block->width) {
@@ -250,24 +253,43 @@ void refresh_statusline(bool use_short_text) {
     TAILQ_FOREACH(block, &statusline_head, blocks) {
         if (i3string_get_num_bytes(block->full_text) == 0)
             continue;
-        color_t fg_color;
 
-        /* If this block is urgent, draw it with the defined color and border. */
-        if (block->urgent) {
-            fg_color = colors.urgent_ws_fg;
+        color_t fg_color = (block->color ? draw_util_hex_to_color(block->color) : colors.bar_fg);
+        int border_width = (block->border) ? logical_px(1) : 0;
+        if (block->border || block->background || block->urgent) {
+            if (block->urgent)
+                fg_color = colors.urgent_ws_fg;
 
-            /* Draw the background */
-            draw_util_rectangle(&statusline_surface, colors.urgent_ws_bg,
-                                x - logical_px(2),
-                                logical_px(1),
-                                block->width + logical_px(4),
+            /* Let's determine the colors first. */
+            color_t border_color = colors.bar_bg;
+            color_t bg_color = colors.bar_bg;
+            if (block->urgent) {
+                border_color = colors.urgent_ws_border;
+                bg_color = colors.urgent_ws_bg;
+            } else {
+                if (block->border)
+                    border_color = draw_util_hex_to_color(block->border);
+
+                if (block->background)
+                    bg_color = draw_util_hex_to_color(block->background);
+            }
+
+            /* Draw the border. */
+            draw_util_rectangle(&statusline_surface, border_color,
+                                x, logical_px(1),
+                                block->width + block->x_offset + block->x_append,
                                 bar_height - logical_px(2));
-        } else {
-            fg_color = (block->color ? draw_util_hex_to_color(block->color) : colors.bar_fg);
+
+            /* Draw the background. */
+            draw_util_rectangle(&statusline_surface, bg_color,
+                                x + border_width,
+                                logical_px(1) + border_width,
+                                block->width + block->x_offset + block->x_append - 2 * border_width,
+                                bar_height - 2 * border_width - logical_px(2));
         }
 
         draw_util_text(block->full_text, &statusline_surface, fg_color, colors.bar_bg,
-                       x + block->x_offset, logical_px(ws_voff_px), block->width);
+                       x + block->x_offset + border_width, logical_px(ws_voff_px), block->width - 2 * border_width);
         x += block->width + block->sep_block_width + block->x_offset + block->x_append;
 
         /* If this is not the last block, draw a separator. */