diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 3828edd8..b02c3e9a 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -2,3 +2,4 @@ settings_local.py
 *.swp
 *.pyc
 __pycache__
+static_files/*
diff --git a/re2o/settings.py b/re2o/settings.py
index 86b6547f..d1a7b122 100644
--- a/re2o/settings.py
+++ b/re2o/settings.py
@@ -118,4 +118,6 @@ STATICFILES_DIRS = (
 
 STATIC_URL = '/static/'
 
+STATIC_ROOT = os.path.join(BASE_DIR, 'static_files')
+
 LOGIN_URL = '/admin/'
diff --git a/static_files/.static b/static_files/.static
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..e69de29b