1. A computer program product for modifying a user interface associated with a run-time environment, the computer program product comprising: computer readable storage media; first program instructions for retrieving data defining a set of attributes for graphical user interface components from persistent storage; and second program instructions for applying the set of attributes to instantiated graphical user interface components associated with the run-time environment so as to modify at least a subset of the instantiated graphical user interface components, wherein a first subset of the set of attributes are applied to the instantiated graphical user interface based on a type of the instantiated graphical user interface, wherein a second subset of the set of attributes are further applied to the instantiated graphical user interface based on a name of a container that is named in the set of attributes, wherein the first subset of attributes and the second subset of attributes are each smaller than the set of attributes wherein the first program instructions and the second program instructions are stored in the on the computer readable storage media.