diff --git a/src/zona/builder.py b/src/zona/builder.py
index 01b4785..a41befb 100644
--- a/src/zona/builder.py
+++ b/src/zona/builder.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 from zona.models import Item, Metadata, ItemType
 from zona import markdown as zmd
+from zona import templates as tmpl
 from zona import util
 from pathlib import Path
 import frontmatter
@@ -77,7 +78,8 @@ def discover(root: Path, out_dir: Path) -> list[Item]:
     return items
 
 
-def build(items: list[Item]):
+def build(root: Path, items: list[Item]):
+    env = tmpl.init_templates(root / "templates")
     for item in items:
         dst = item.destination
         # create parent dirs if needed
@@ -85,9 +87,10 @@ def build(items: list[Item]):
             assert item.content is not None
             # parse markdown and render as html
             raw_html = zmd.md_to_html(item.content)
-            # TODO: apply to template here
+            # TODO: test this
+            rendered = tmpl.render_item(item, raw_html, env)
             util.ensure_parents(dst)
-            dst.write_text(raw_html, encoding="utf-8")
+            dst.write_text(rendered, encoding="utf-8")
         else:
             if item.copy:
                 util.copy_static_file(item.source, dst)
diff --git a/src/zona/cli.py b/src/zona/cli.py
index 28b3aa6..43b64f1 100644
--- a/src/zona/cli.py
+++ b/src/zona/cli.py
@@ -1,15 +1,18 @@
 import typer
+from pathlib import Path
 from zona import builder
 
 app = typer.Typer()
 
 
 @app.command()
-def discover(in_dir: str | None = None):
-    out_dir = ""
+def build(in_dir: str | None = None, out_dir: str | None = None):
     if in_dir is None:
         in_dir = "."
-    _ = builder.discover(in_dir, out_dir)
+    if out_dir is None:
+        out_dir = "public"
+    items = builder.discover(Path(in_dir), Path(out_dir))
+    builder.build(Path(in_dir), items)
 
 
 @app.command()
diff --git a/src/zona/data/templates/base.html b/src/zona/data/templates/base.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/zona/data/templates/post.html b/src/zona/data/templates/post.html
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e69de29
diff --git a/src/zona/models.py b/src/zona/models.py
index 29dafee..4f23a5f 100644
--- a/src/zona/models.py
+++ b/src/zona/models.py
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@ from pathlib import Path
 from enum import Enum
 from datetime import date
 from dataclasses import dataclass
-from typing import Literal
 
 
 @dataclass
@@ -10,7 +9,9 @@ class Metadata:
     title: str
     date: date
     description: str | None
-    # add more options later...
+    style: str | None = "static/style.css"
+    header: bool = True
+    footer: bool = True
 
 
 class ItemType(Enum):
diff --git a/src/zona/templates.py b/src/zona/templates.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..f5e9609
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/zona/templates.py
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+from pathlib import Path
+from jinja2 import Environment, FileSystemLoader, select_autoescape
+from zona.models import Item
+
+
+def init_templates(template_dir: Path) -> Environment:
+    return Environment(
+        loader=FileSystemLoader(template_dir),
+        autoescape=select_autoescape(["html", "xml"]),
+    )
+
+
+def render_item(item: Item, content: str, env: Environment) -> str:
+    template = env.get_template("post.html")
+    meta = item.metadata
+    assert meta is not None
+    return template.render(
+        title=meta.title, content=content, url=item.url, metadata=meta
+    )