diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 06263ce..94fa16c 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -13,16 +13,5 @@ coverage.xml
 
 
 # Home Assistant configuration
-.cloud
-.HA_VERSION
-.storage
-automations.yaml
-blueprints
-configuration.yaml
-deps
-home-assistant_v2*
-home-assistant.log*
-tts
-scenes.yaml
-scripts.yaml
-secrets.yaml
\ No newline at end of file
+config/*
+!config/configuration.yaml
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 797ded3..88f2fa7 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ This custom component is based on [integration_blueprint template](https://githu
 It comes with development environment in a container, easy to launch
 if you use Visual Studio Code. With this container you will have a stand alone
 Home Assistant instance running and already configured with the included
-[`configuration.yaml`](./configuration.yaml)
+[`configuration.yaml`](./config/configuration.yaml)
 file.
 
 ## License
diff --git a/configuration.yaml b/config/configuration.yaml
similarity index 100%
rename from configuration.yaml
rename to config/configuration.yaml
diff --git a/scripts/develop b/scripts/develop
index 49de63b..89eda50 100755
--- a/scripts/develop
+++ b/scripts/develop
@@ -4,5 +4,17 @@ set -e
 
 cd "$(dirname "$0")/.."
 
+# Create config dir if not present
+if [[ ! -d "${PWD}/config" ]]; then
+    mkdir -p "${PWD}/config"
+    hass --config "${PWD}/config" --script ensure_config
+fi
+
+# Set the path to custom_components
+## This let's us have the structure we want <root>/custom_components/integration_blueprint
+## while at the same time have Home Assistant configuration inside <root>/config
+## without resulting to symlinks.
+export PYTHONPATH="${PYTHONPATH}:${PWD}/custom_components"
+
 # Start Home Assistant
-hass -c . --debug
+hass --config "${PWD}/config" --debug