diff --git a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopGameHost.cs b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopGameHost.cs
index bf8b7da33c..4dbf9538c6 100644
--- a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopGameHost.cs
+++ b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopGameHost.cs
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 using osu.Framework.Desktop.Input.Handlers.Mouse;
 using osu.Framework.Input;
 using osu.Framework.Input.Handlers;
+using osu.Framework.Logging;
 
 namespace osu.Framework.Desktop.Platform
 {
@@ -22,6 +23,20 @@ public abstract class DesktopGameHost : GameHost
         private readonly TcpIpcProvider ipcProvider;
         private readonly Task ipcTask;
 
+        public override Storage Storage
+        {
+            get
+            {
+                return base.Storage;
+            }
+
+            protected set
+            {
+                base.Storage = value;
+                Logger.Storage = value.GetStorageForDirectory("logs");
+            }
+        }
+
         protected DesktopGameHost(string gameName = @"", bool bindIPCPort = false)
             : base(gameName)
         {
diff --git a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopStorage.cs b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopStorage.cs
index bff98a9240..5fcd4d0992 100644
--- a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopStorage.cs
+++ b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/DesktopStorage.cs
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
 using SQLite.Net.Interop;
 using SQLite.Net.Platform.Win32;
 using System.Diagnostics;
-using osu.Framework.Logging;
 
 namespace osu.Framework.Desktop.Platform
 {
@@ -18,19 +17,33 @@ public class DesktopStorage : Storage
         public DesktopStorage(string baseName)
             : base(baseName)
         {
-            //todo: this is obviously not the right way to do this.
-            Logger.LogDirectory = Path.Combine(BasePath, @"logs");
         }
 
-        protected virtual string BasePath => @"./"; //use current directory by default
+        protected override string LocateBasePath() => @"./"; //use current directory by default
 
-        public override bool Exists(string path) => File.Exists(Path.Combine(BasePath, path));
+        public override bool Exists(string path) => File.Exists(GetUsablePathFor(path));
 
-        public override bool ExistsDirectory(string path) => Directory.Exists(Path.Combine(BasePath, path));
+        public override bool ExistsDirectory(string path) => Directory.Exists(GetUsablePathFor(path));
 
-        public override void DeleteDirectory(string path) => Directory.Delete(Path.Combine(BasePath, path), true);
+        public override void DeleteDirectory(string path)
+        {
+            path = GetUsablePathFor(path);
+
+            // handles the case where the directory doesn't exist, which will throw a DirectoryNotFoundException.
+            if (Directory.Exists(path))
+                Directory.Delete(path, true);
+        }
+
+        public override void Delete(string path)
+        {
+            path = GetUsablePathFor(path);
+
+            // handles the case where the containing directory doesn't exist, which will throw a DirectoryNotFoundException.
+            if (File.Exists(path))
+                File.Delete(path);
+        }
 
-        public override void Delete(string path) => File.Delete(Path.Combine(BasePath, path));
+        public override string[] GetDirectories(string path) => Directory.GetDirectories(GetUsablePathFor(path));
 
         public override void OpenInNativeExplorer()
         {
@@ -39,7 +52,7 @@ public override void OpenInNativeExplorer()
 
         public override Stream GetStream(string path, FileAccess access = FileAccess.Read, FileMode mode = FileMode.OpenOrCreate)
         {
-            path = Path.Combine(BasePath, path);
+            path = GetUsablePathFor(path);
 
             if (string.IsNullOrEmpty(path))
                 throw new ArgumentNullException(nameof(path));
@@ -64,7 +77,7 @@ public override SQLiteConnection GetDatabase(string name)
                 platform = new SQLitePlatformWin32(Architecture.NativeIncludePath);
             else
                 platform = new SQLitePlatformGeneric();
-            return new SQLiteConnection(platform, Path.Combine(BasePath, $@"{name}.db"));
+            return new SQLiteConnection(platform, GetUsablePathFor($@"{name}.db"));
         }
 
         public override void DeleteDatabase(string name) => Delete($@"{name}.db");
diff --git a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Linux/LinuxStorage.cs b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Linux/LinuxStorage.cs
index a7a992c858..55b90a09a6 100644
--- a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Linux/LinuxStorage.cs
+++ b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Linux/LinuxStorage.cs
@@ -13,24 +13,23 @@ public LinuxStorage(string baseName)
         {
         }
 
-        protected override string BasePath
+        protected override string LocateBasePath()
         {
-            get
+            string home = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal);
+            string xdg = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("XDG_DATA_HOME");
+            string[] paths =
             {
-                string home = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.Personal);
-                string xdg = Environment.GetEnvironmentVariable("XDG_DATA_HOME");
-                string[] paths =
-                {
-                    Path.Combine(xdg ?? Path.Combine(home, ".local", "share"), BaseName),
-                    Path.Combine(home, "." + BaseName)
-                };
-                foreach (string path in paths)
-                {
-                    if (Directory.Exists(path))
-                        return path;
-                }
-                return paths[0];
+                xdg ?? Path.Combine(home, ".local", "share"),
+                Path.Combine(home)
+            };
+
+            foreach (string path in paths)
+            {
+                if (Directory.Exists(path))
+                    return path;
             }
+
+            return paths[0];
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Windows/WindowsStorage.cs b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Windows/WindowsStorage.cs
index 45999e6d3c..2e8e99603c 100644
--- a/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Windows/WindowsStorage.cs
+++ b/osu.Framework.Desktop/Platform/Windows/WindowsStorage.cs
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 // Licensed under the MIT Licence - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ppy/osu-framework/master/LICENCE
 
 using System;
-using System.IO;
 
 namespace osu.Framework.Desktop.Platform.Windows
 {
@@ -13,13 +12,6 @@ public WindowsStorage(string baseName)
         {
         }
 
-        protected override string BasePath
-        {
-            get
-            {
-                string appdata = Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
-                return Path.Combine(appdata, BaseName);
-            }
-        }
+        protected override string LocateBasePath() => Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.ApplicationData);
     }
 }
diff --git a/osu.Framework/Logging/Logger.cs b/osu.Framework/Logging/Logger.cs
index bd64b112a9..b9c20f544b 100644
--- a/osu.Framework/Logging/Logger.cs
+++ b/osu.Framework/Logging/Logger.cs
@@ -6,26 +6,13 @@
 using System.Diagnostics;
 using System.Globalization;
 using System.IO;
-using osu.Framework.IO.File;
+using osu.Framework.Platform;
 using osu.Framework.Threading;
 
 namespace osu.Framework.Logging
 {
     public class Logger
     {
-        /// <summary>
-        /// Directory to place all log files.
-        /// </summary>
-        public static string LogDirectory
-        {
-            get { return logDirectory; }
-            set
-            {
-                logDirectory = value;
-                hasLogDirectory = null; //we should check again whether the directory exists.
-            }
-        }
-
         /// <summary>
         /// Global control over logging.
         /// </summary>
@@ -46,6 +33,11 @@ public static string LogDirectory
         /// </summary>
         public static string VersionIdentifier = @"unknown";
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// The storage to place logs inside.
+        /// </summary>
+        public static Storage Storage;
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Add a plain-text phrase which should always be filtered from logs.
         /// Useful for avoiding logging of credentials.
@@ -130,7 +122,7 @@ public static Logger GetLogger(LoggingTarget target = LoggingTarget.Runtime, boo
 
         public LoggingTarget Target { get; }
 
-        public string Filename => logDirectory == null ? null : Path.Combine(logDirectory, $@"{Target.ToString().ToLower()}.log");
+        public string Filename => $@"{Target.ToString().ToLower()}.log";
 
         private Logger(LoggingTarget target = LoggingTarget.Runtime)
         {
@@ -189,13 +181,15 @@ public void Add(string message = @"", LogLevel level = LogLevel.Verbose)
 
             background_scheduler.Add(delegate
             {
-                ensureLogDirectoryExists();
-                if (hasLogDirectory.HasValue && !hasLogDirectory.Value)
+                if (Storage == null)
                     return;
 
                 try
                 {
-                    File.AppendAllLines(Filename, lines);
+                    using (var stream = Storage.GetStream(Filename, FileAccess.Write, FileMode.Append))
+                    using (var writer = new StreamWriter(stream))
+                        foreach (var line in lines)
+                            writer.WriteLine(line);
                 }
                 catch
                 {
@@ -208,20 +202,9 @@ public void Add(string message = @"", LogLevel level = LogLevel.Verbose)
         /// <summary>
         /// Deletes log file from disk.
         /// </summary>
-        /// <param name="lastLogSuffix">If specified, creates a copy of the last log file with specified suffix.</param>
-        public void Clear(string lastLogSuffix = null)
+        public void Clear()
         {
-            background_scheduler.Add(delegate
-            {
-                ensureLogDirectoryExists();
-                if (Filename == null) return;
-
-                if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(lastLogSuffix))
-                    FileSafety.FileMove(Filename, Filename.Replace(@".log", $@"_{lastLogSuffix}.log"));
-                else
-                    FileSafety.FileDelete(Filename);
-            });
-
+            background_scheduler.Add(() => Storage?.Delete(Filename));
             addHeader();
         }
 
@@ -237,30 +220,6 @@ private void addHeader()
         private static readonly List<string> filters = new List<string>();
         private static readonly Dictionary<LoggingTarget, Logger> static_loggers = new Dictionary<LoggingTarget, Logger>();
         private static readonly ThreadedScheduler background_scheduler = new ThreadedScheduler(@"Logger");
-        private static bool? hasLogDirectory;
-        private static string logDirectory;
-
-        private void ensureLogDirectoryExists()
-        {
-            if (hasLogDirectory.HasValue)
-                return;
-
-            if (logDirectory != null)
-            {
-                try
-                {
-                    Directory.CreateDirectory(logDirectory);
-                    hasLogDirectory = true;
-                }
-                catch
-                {
-                }
-
-                return;
-            }
-
-            hasLogDirectory = false;
-        }
     }
 
     public class LogEntry
diff --git a/osu.Framework/Platform/Storage.cs b/osu.Framework/Platform/Storage.cs
index f5c7431497..a980db4910 100644
--- a/osu.Framework/Platform/Storage.cs
+++ b/osu.Framework/Platform/Storage.cs
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 // Copyright (c) 2007-2017 ppy Pty Ltd <contact@ppy.sh>.
 // Licensed under the MIT Licence - https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ppy/osu-framework/master/LICENCE
 
+using System;
 using System.IO;
 using osu.Framework.IO.File;
 using SQLite.Net;
@@ -11,11 +12,35 @@ public abstract class Storage
     {
         protected string BaseName { get; set; }
 
+        protected readonly string BasePath;
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// An optional path to be added after <see cref="BaseName"/>.
+        /// </summary>
+        protected string SubDirectory { get; set; } = string.Empty;
+
         protected Storage(string baseName)
         {
             BaseName = FileSafety.FilenameStrip(baseName);
+            BasePath = LocateBasePath();
+            if (BasePath == null)
+                throw new NullReferenceException(nameof(BasePath));
         }
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Find the location which will be used as a root for this storage.
+        /// This should usually be a platform-specific implementation.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        protected abstract string LocateBasePath();
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Get a Storage-usable path for the provided path.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="path">An incomplete path, usually provided as user input.</param>
+        /// <returns></returns>
+        protected string GetUsablePathFor(string path) => Path.Combine(BasePath, BaseName, SubDirectory, path);
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Check whether a file exists at the specified path.
         /// </summary>
@@ -42,6 +67,25 @@ protected Storage(string baseName)
         /// <param name="path">The path of the file to delete.</param>
         public abstract void Delete(string path);
 
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Retrieve a list of directories at the specified path.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="path">The path to list.</param>
+        /// <returns>A list of directories in the path, relative to the path.</returns>
+        public abstract string[] GetDirectories(string path);
+
+        /// <summary>
+        /// Retrieve a <see cref="Storage"/> for a contained directory.
+        /// </summary>
+        /// <param name="path">The subdirectory to use as a root.</param>
+        /// <returns>A more specific storage.</returns>
+        public Storage GetStorageForDirectory(string path)
+        {
+            var clone = (Storage)MemberwiseClone();
+            clone.SubDirectory = path;
+            return clone;
+        }
+
         /// <summary>
         /// Retrieve a stream from an underlying file inside this storage.
         /// </summary>