diff --git a/src/window/renderer.c b/src/window/renderer.c
index 3d1ce82..1a9b3a3 100644
--- a/src/window/renderer.c
+++ b/src/window/renderer.c
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ int renderer_init(SDL_Window** window, SDL_Renderer** renderer) {
 
 // draws a block at the specified position
 static inline int draw_block(SDL_Renderer* renderer, int8_t x, int8_t y) {
-    return SDL_RenderFillRect(renderer, &(SDL_Rect){x * BLOCK_WIDTH + 1, y * BLOCK_HEIGHT + 1, BLOCK_WIDTH - 1, BLOCK_HEIGHT - 1});
+    return SDL_RenderFillRect(renderer, &(SDL_Rect){x * BLOCK_WIDTH + 1 + TET_PADDING, y * BLOCK_HEIGHT + 1 + TET_PADDING, BLOCK_WIDTH - 1, BLOCK_HEIGHT - 1});
 }
 
 // sets the colour32 from the colour8
@@ -84,6 +84,9 @@ void renderer_update(const RenderData* render_data) {
     set_colour(renderer, COLOUR_BLACK);
     success |= SDL_RenderClear(renderer);
 
+    set_colour(renderer, COLOUR_WHITE);
+    SDL_RenderDrawRect(renderer, &(SDL_Rect){TET_PADDING, TET_PADDING, TET_WIDTH + 1, TET_HEIGHT + 1});
+
     render_level(renderer, render_data->game_data);
     render_selected(renderer, render_data->game_data);
 
diff --git a/src/window/renderer.h b/src/window/renderer.h
index d139718..98cbd8f 100644
--- a/src/window/renderer.h
+++ b/src/window/renderer.h
@@ -5,10 +5,14 @@
 
 #include "../game/game.h"
 
-#define SCREEN_WIDTH  (COLUMNS * 25)
-#define SCREEN_HEIGHT (SCREEN_WIDTH / COLUMNS * ROWS)
-#define BLOCK_WIDTH   (SCREEN_WIDTH / COLUMNS)
-#define BLOCK_HEIGHT  (SCREEN_HEIGHT / ROWS)
+#define SCREEN_RESOLUTION 25                                // pixels per block
+#define SCREEN_WIDTH      ((COLUMNS) * 25)                  // window width
+#define SCREEN_HEIGHT     (SCREEN_WIDTH / COLUMNS * ROWS)   // window height
+#define TET_PADDING       10                                // padding around the tetris playing field
+#define TET_WIDTH         (SCREEN_WIDTH - TET_PADDING * 2)  // tetris playing field width
+#define TET_HEIGHT        (SCREEN_HEIGHT - TET_PADDING * 2) // tetris playing field height
+#define BLOCK_WIDTH       (TET_WIDTH / COLUMNS)             // width of a block
+#define BLOCK_HEIGHT      (TET_HEIGHT / ROWS)               // height of a block
 
 typedef struct {
     SDL_Window* window;