diff --git a/hosts/nel-desktop/configuration.nix b/hosts/nel-desktop/configuration.nix
index 2acfc87..9ae318a 100644
--- a/hosts/nel-desktop/configuration.nix
+++ b/hosts/nel-desktop/configuration.nix
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-{ pkgs, ... }: {
+{
   imports = [
     ../../modules/nixos
     ./hardware-configuration.nix
@@ -14,6 +14,8 @@
         background = ./transcoded-wallpaper.jpeg;
       };
 
+      desktop.plasma.enable = true;
+
       users = {
         nel = {
           isAdmin = true;
@@ -50,14 +52,6 @@
   };
   users.users.nel.extraGroups = [ "podman" ];
 
-  services.desktopManager.plasma6.enable = true;
-  # i dont use elisa or any of the KDE PIM suite and they both pull in a bunch of big dependencies
-  environment.plasma6.excludePackages = [
-    pkgs.kdePackages.elisa
-    pkgs.kdePackages.qrca
-  ];
-  programs.kde-pim.enable = false;
-
   services.pulseaudio.enable = false;
   security.rtkit.enable = true;
   services.pipewire = {
diff --git a/modules/nixos/system/default.nix b/modules/nixos/system/default.nix
index 218ef92..fe0b853 100644
--- a/modules/nixos/system/default.nix
+++ b/modules/nixos/system/default.nix
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
     ./bluetooth.nix
     ./boot
     ./console.nix
+    ./desktops
     ./display-managers
     ./lannas.nix
     ./locale.nix
diff --git a/modules/nixos/system/desktops/default.nix b/modules/nixos/system/desktops/default.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..279b444
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/nixos/system/desktops/default.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+  imports = [
+    ./plasma.nix
+  ];
+}
diff --git a/modules/nixos/system/desktops/plasma.nix b/modules/nixos/system/desktops/plasma.nix
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..0ed82bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/modules/nixos/system/desktops/plasma.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+{ config, lib, pkgs, ... }: let
+  cfg = config.cyclamen.system.desktop.plasma;
+in {
+  options.cyclamen.system.desktop.plasma = {
+    enable = lib.mkEnableOption "plasma desktop environment";
+  };
+
+  config = lib.mkIf cfg.enable {
+    services.desktopManager.plasma6.enable = true;
+
+    # these all bring in some quite big dependencies and i usually dont need them.
+    # disable them by default
+    environment.plasma6.excludePackages = [
+      pkgs.kdePackages.elisa
+      pkgs.kdePackages.qrca
+    ];
+    programs.kde-pim.enable = false;
+  };
+}