diff --git a/core/lib/patternlab.js b/core/lib/patternlab.js
index 6fc111887..a5aafdd40 100644
--- a/core/lib/patternlab.js
+++ b/core/lib/patternlab.js
@@ -121,14 +121,16 @@ var patternlab_engine = function (config) {
     console.log('');
 
     plutils.logGreen(' patternlab:loadstarterkit');
-    console.log('   > Load a starterkit into config.paths.soource/*');
-    console.log('   > NOTE: This does overwrite any existing contents, and does not clean the directory first.');
+    console.log('   > Load a starterkit into config.paths.source/*');
+    console.log('   > NOTE: Overwrites existing content, and only cleans out existing directory if --clean=true argument is passed.');
     console.log('   > NOTE: In most cases, `npm install starterkit-name` will precede this call.');
     console.log('   > arguments:');
     console.log('      -- kit ');
     console.log('      > the name of the starter kit to load');
+    console.log('      -- clean ');
+    console.log('      > removes all files from config.paths.source/ prior to load');
     console.log('   > example (gulp):');
-    console.log('    `gulp patternlab:starterkit-load --kit=starterkit-mustache-demo`');
+    console.log('    `gulp patternlab:loadstarterkit --kit=starterkit-mustache-demo`');
     console.log('');
 
     console.log('===============================');
@@ -175,9 +177,9 @@ var patternlab_engine = function (config) {
     return starterkit_manager.list_starterkits();
   }
 
-  function loadStarterKit(starterkitName) {
+  function loadStarterKit(starterkitName, clean) {
     var starterkit_manager = new sm(patternlab);
-    starterkit_manager.load_starterkit(starterkitName);
+    starterkit_manager.load_starterkit(starterkitName, clean);
   }
 
   function buildPatterns(deletePatternDir) {
@@ -369,8 +371,8 @@ var patternlab_engine = function (config) {
     liststarterkits: function () {
       return listStarterkits();
     },
-    loadstarterkit: function (starterkitName) {
-      loadStarterKit(starterkitName);
+    loadstarterkit: function (starterkitName, clean) {
+      loadStarterKit(starterkitName, clean);
     }
   };
 };
diff --git a/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js b/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js
index caffc9c55..e14503d45 100644
--- a/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js
+++ b/core/lib/starterkit_manager.js
@@ -3,29 +3,41 @@
 var starterkit_manager = function (pl) {
   var path = require('path'),
     fs = require('fs-extra'),
+    util = require('./utilities'),
     paths = pl.config.paths;
 
-  function loadStarterKit(starterkitName) {
+  function loadStarterKit(starterkitName, clean) {
     try {
       var kitPath = path.resolve(
         path.join(process.cwd(), 'node_modules', starterkitName, pl.config.starterkitSubDir)
       );
-      var kitPathDirExists = fs.statSync(kitPath).isDirectory();
+      console.log('Attempting to load starterkit from', kitPath);
+      try {
+        var kitDirStats = fs.statSync(kitPath);
+      } catch (ex) {
+        util.logRed(starterkitName + ' not found, please use npm to install it first.');
+        util.logRed(starterkitName + ' not loaded.');
+        return;
+      }
+      var kitPathDirExists = kitDirStats.isDirectory();
       if (kitPathDirExists) {
 
-        //todo check and prompt user is paths().source is not empty
+        if (clean) {
+          console.log('Deleting contents of', paths.source.root, 'prior to starterkit load.');
+          util.emptyDirectory(paths.source.root);
+        } else {
+          console.log('Overwriting contents of', paths.source.root, 'during starterkit load.');
+        }
 
         fs.copy(kitPath, paths.source.root, function (ex) {
           if (ex) {
             console.error(ex);
           }
-          console.log('starterkit ' + starterkitName + ' loaded successfully.');
+          util.logGreen('starterkit ' + starterkitName + ' loaded successfully.');
         });
-
       }
     } catch (ex) {
       console.log(ex);
-      console.log(starterkitName + ' not found, please use npm to install it first');
     }
   }
 
@@ -38,8 +50,8 @@ var starterkit_manager = function (pl) {
   }
 
   return {
-    load_starterkit: function (starterkitName) {
-      loadStarterKit(starterkitName);
+    load_starterkit: function (starterkitName, clean) {
+      loadStarterKit(starterkitName, clean);
     },
     list_starterkits: function () {
       listStarterkits();
diff --git a/core/lib/utilities.js b/core/lib/utilities.js
index ef4e866fc..4765e874b 100644
--- a/core/lib/utilities.js
+++ b/core/lib/utilities.js
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 "use strict";
 
+var fs = require('fs-extra'),
+  path = require('path');
+
 var util = {
   // http://stackoverflow.com/questions/6274339/how-can-i-shuffle-an-array-in-javascript
   shuffle: function (o) {
@@ -58,6 +61,28 @@ var util = {
       if (obj.hasOwnProperty(prop)) { return false; }
     }
     return true;
+  },
+
+  // recursively delete the contents of directory
+  // adapted from https://gist.github.com/tkihira/2367067
+  emptyDirectory: function (dir, cleanDir) {
+    var list = fs.readdirSync(dir);
+    for (var i = 0; i < list.length; i++) {
+      var filename = path.join(dir, list[i]);
+      var stat = fs.statSync(filename);
+
+      if (filename === "." || filename === "..") {
+        // pass these files
+      } else if (stat.isDirectory()) {
+        this.emptyDirectory(filename);
+      } else {
+        // rm fiilename
+        fs.unlinkSync(filename);
+      }
+    }
+    if (cleanDir) {
+      fs.rmdirSync(dir);
+    }
   }
 };