diff --git a/imagemonk/database/__init__.py b/imagemonk/database/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..96f8bf2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imagemonk/database/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,58 @@
+import logging
+from typing import Tuple
+
+import peewee
+
+from imagemonk import constants
+from imagemonk.configuration import ImageMonkConfig
+from imagemonk.database._shared import ImageMonkModel
+from imagemonk.database._shared import INTERFACE as interface
+from imagemonk.database.image import ImageRecord
+from imagemonk.database.thumbnail import ThumbnailRecord
+
+
+MODELS: Tuple[ImageMonkModel, ...] = (ImageRecord, ThumbnailRecord)
+
+
+def initialize(config: ImageMonkConfig):
+    """Initialize the database interface
+
+    Defining the database as an
+    `unconfigured proxy object <http://docs.peewee-orm.com/en/latest/peewee/database.html#setting-the-database-at-run-time>`_
+    allows it to be configured at runtime based on the config values.
+
+    :param config: Populated configuration container object
+    """
+
+    logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
+
+    if config.database.backend == constants.SupportedDatabaseBackend.SQLITE:
+        logger.debug("Using SQLite database backend")
+        logger.debug(f"Applying SQLite pragmas: {config.database.sqlite.pragmas}")
+        database = peewee.SqliteDatabase(
+            config.database.sqlite.path, pragmas=config.database.sqlite.pragmas
+        )
+    elif config.database.backend == constants.SupportedDatabaseBackend.MARIADB:
+        logger.debug("Using MariaDB database backend")
+        logger.debug(
+            "Configuring MariaDB:"
+            f" {config.database.mariadb.username}@{config.database.mariadb.hostname}:{config.database.mariadb.port},"
+            f" with database '{config.database.mariadb.schema}'"
+        )
+        database = peewee.MySQLDatabase(
+            config.database.mariadb.schema,
+            host=config.database.mariadb.hostname,
+            port=config.database.mariadb.port,
+            user=config.database.mariadb.username,
+            password=config.database.mariadb.password,
+            charset="utf8mb4",
+        )
+    else:
+        raise ValueError(
+            f"Invalid storage backend in configuration: {config.database.backend}"
+        )
+
+    interface.initialize(database)
+
+    with interface.atomic():
+        interface.create_tables(MODELS)
diff --git a/imagemonk/database/_shared.py b/imagemonk/database/_shared.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..285afb8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imagemonk/database/_shared.py
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import datetime
+import uuid
+
+import peewee
+
+
+INTERFACE = peewee.DatabaseProxy()
+
+
+class ImageMonkModel(peewee.Model):
+    class Meta:  # pylint: disable=too-few-public-methods,missing-class-docstring
+        database = INTERFACE
+
+    uuid = peewee.UUIDField(null=False, unique=True, default=uuid.uuid4)
+    created = peewee.DateTimeField(null=False, default=datetime.datetime.utcnow)
diff --git a/imagemonk/database/image.py b/imagemonk/database/image.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9e66860
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imagemonk/database/image.py
@@ -0,0 +1,30 @@
+import json
+import uuid
+from typing import List
+
+import peewee
+
+from imagemonk.database._shared import ImageMonkModel
+
+
+class ImageRecord(ImageMonkModel):
+    """Database record for"""
+
+    width = peewee.IntegerField(null=False)
+    height = peewee.IntegerField(null=False)
+    format = peewee.CharField(null=False)
+    deleted = peewee.BooleanField(null=False, default=False)
+    public = peewee.BooleanField(null=False, default=False)
+    owner = peewee.UUIDField(null=False)
+    sha256 = peewee.CharField(null=False)
+    _readable = peewee.CharField(null=False, default="[]")
+
+    @property
+    def readable(self) -> List[uuid.UUID]:
+        """List of UUIDs corresponding to accounts that can read the file"""
+        return [uuid.UUID(item) for item in json.loads(self._readable)]
+
+    @readable.setter
+    def readable(self, value: List[uuid.UUID]):
+        """Update the list of UUIDs for accounts that can read the file"""
+        self._readable = json.dumps([str(item) for item in value])
diff --git a/imagemonk/database/thumbnail.py b/imagemonk/database/thumbnail.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..760b871
--- /dev/null
+++ b/imagemonk/database/thumbnail.py
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+import peewee
+
+from imagemonk.database._shared import ImageMonkModel
+from imagemonk.database.image import ImageRecord
+
+
+class ThumbnailRecord(ImageMonkModel):
+
+    parent = peewee.ForeignKeyField(ImageRecord)
+    width = peewee.IntegerField(null=False)
+    height = peewee.IntegerField(null=False)