diff --git a/bonobo/__init__.py b/bonobo/__init__.py
index e82abba..05f5d14 100644
--- a/bonobo/__init__.py
+++ b/bonobo/__init__.py
@@ -32,6 +32,7 @@ __all__ = [
     'Bag',
     'CsvReader',
     'CsvWriter',
+    'Configurable',
     'FileReader',
     'FileWriter',
     'Graph',
@@ -39,6 +40,7 @@ __all__ = [
     'JsonWriter',
     'NOT_MODIFIED',
     'NaiveStrategy',
+    'Option',
     'ProcessPoolExecutorStrategy',
     'ThreadPoolExecutorStrategy',
     '__version__',
@@ -53,3 +55,5 @@ __all__ = [
     'service',
     'tee',
 ]
+
+del sys
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/bonobo/util/__init__.py b/bonobo/util/__init__.py
index 9da50a9..eece5b9 100644
--- a/bonobo/util/__init__.py
+++ b/bonobo/util/__init__.py
@@ -7,8 +7,11 @@ import blessings
 
 from .helpers import run, console_run, jupyter_run
 from .tokens import NOT_MODIFIED
+from .options import Configurable, Option
 
 __all__ = [
+    'Configurable',
+    'Option',
     'NOT_MODIFIED',
     'console_run',
     'jupyter_run',
diff --git a/bonobo/util/options.py b/bonobo/util/options.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3618e63
--- /dev/null
+++ b/bonobo/util/options.py
@@ -0,0 +1,61 @@
+class Option:
+    def __init__(self, type=None, *, required=False, default=None):
+        self.name = None
+        self.type = type
+        self.required = required
+        self.default = default
+
+    def __get__(self, inst, typ):
+        return inst.__options_values__.get(self.name, self.default)
+
+    def __set__(self, inst, value):
+        inst.__options_values__[self.name] = self.type(value) if self.type else value
+
+
+class ConfigurableMeta(type):
+    def __init__(cls, what, bases=None, dict=None):
+        super().__init__(what, bases, dict)
+        cls.__options__ = {}
+        for typ in cls.__mro__:
+            for name, value in typ.__dict__.items():
+                if isinstance(value, Option):
+                    if not value.name:
+                        value.name = name
+                    if not name in cls.__options__:
+                        cls.__options__[name] = value
+
+
+class Configurable(metaclass=ConfigurableMeta):
+    """
+    Generic class for configurable objects. Configurable objects have a dictionary of "options" descriptors that defines
+    the configuration schema of the type.
+
+    """
+
+    def __init__(self, **kwargs):
+        self.__options_values__ = {}
+
+        missing = set()
+        for name, option in type(self).__options__.items():
+            if option.required and not option.name in kwargs:
+                missing.add(name)
+
+        if len(missing):
+            raise TypeError(
+                '{}() missing {} required option{}: {}.'.format(
+                    type(self).__name__,
+                    len(missing), 's' if len(missing) > 1 else '', ', '.join(map(repr, sorted(missing)))
+                )
+            )
+
+        extraneous = set(kwargs.keys()) - set(type(self).__options__.keys())
+        if len(extraneous):
+            raise TypeError(
+                '{}() got {} unexpected option{}: {}.'.format(
+                    type(self).__name__,
+                    len(extraneous), 's' if len(extraneous) > 1 else '', ', '.join(map(repr, sorted(extraneous)))
+                )
+            )
+
+        for name, value in kwargs.items():
+            setattr(self, name, kwargs[name])
diff --git a/tests/util/test_options.py b/tests/util/test_options.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..45cc326
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/util/test_options.py
@@ -0,0 +1,76 @@
+import pytest
+from bonobo import Configurable, Option
+
+
+class MyConfigurable(Configurable):
+    required_str = Option(str, required=True)
+    default_str = Option(str, default='foo')
+    integer = Option(int)
+
+
+class MyHarderConfigurable(MyConfigurable):
+    also_required = Option(bool, required=True)
+
+
+class MyBetterConfigurable(MyConfigurable):
+    required_str = Option(str, required=False, default='kaboom')
+
+
+def test_missing_required_option_error():
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError) as exc:
+        MyConfigurable()
+    assert exc.match('missing 1 required option:')
+
+
+def test_missing_required_options_error():
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError) as exc:
+        MyHarderConfigurable()
+    assert exc.match('missing 2 required options:')
+
+
+def test_extraneous_option_error():
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError) as exc:
+        MyConfigurable(required_str='foo', hello='world')
+    assert exc.match('got 1 unexpected option:')
+
+
+def test_extraneous_options_error():
+    with pytest.raises(TypeError) as exc:
+        MyConfigurable(required_str='foo', hello='world', acme='corp')
+    assert exc.match('got 2 unexpected options:')
+
+
+def test_defaults():
+    o = MyConfigurable(required_str='hello')
+    assert o.required_str == 'hello'
+    assert o.default_str == 'foo'
+    assert o.integer == None
+
+
+def test_str_type_factory():
+    o = MyConfigurable(required_str=42)
+    assert o.required_str == '42'
+    assert o.default_str == 'foo'
+    assert o.integer == None
+
+
+def test_int_type_factory():
+    o = MyConfigurable(required_str='yo', default_str='bar', integer='42')
+    assert o.required_str == 'yo'
+    assert o.default_str == 'bar'
+    assert o.integer == 42
+
+
+def test_bool_type_factory():
+    o = MyHarderConfigurable(required_str='yes', also_required='True')
+    assert o.required_str == 'yes'
+    assert o.default_str == 'foo'
+    assert o.integer == None
+    assert o.also_required == True
+
+
+def test_option_resolution_order():
+    o = MyBetterConfigurable()
+    assert o.required_str == 'kaboom'
+    assert o.default_str == 'foo'
+    assert o.integer == None