diff --git a/helper.go b/helper.go
index 00d66dd..86906c8 100644
--- a/helper.go
+++ b/helper.go
@@ -4,7 +4,12 @@
 
 package termui
 
-import tm "github.com/nsf/termbox-go"
+import (
+	"regexp"
+	"strings"
+
+	tm "github.com/nsf/termbox-go"
+)
 import rw "github.com/mattn/go-runewidth"
 
 /* ---------------Port from termbox-go --------------------- */
@@ -87,3 +92,59 @@ func strWidth(s string) int {
 func charWidth(ch rune) int {
 	return rw.RuneWidth(ch)
 }
+
+var whiteSpaceRegex = regexp.MustCompile(`\s`)
+
+// StringToAttribute converts text to a termui attribute. You may specifiy more
+// then one attribute like that: "BLACK, BOLD, ...". All whitespaces
+// are ignored.
+func StringToAttribute(text string) Attribute {
+	text = whiteSpaceRegex.ReplaceAllString(strings.ToLower(text), "")
+	attributes := strings.Split(text, ",")
+	result := Attribute(0)
+
+	for _, theAttribute := range attributes {
+		var match Attribute
+		switch theAttribute {
+		case "reset", "default":
+			match = ColorDefault
+
+		case "black":
+			match = ColorBlack
+
+		case "red":
+			match = ColorRed
+
+		case "green":
+			match = ColorGreen
+
+		case "yellow":
+			match = ColorYellow
+
+		case "blue":
+			match = ColorBlue
+
+		case "magenta":
+			match = ColorMagenta
+
+		case "cyan":
+			match = ColorCyan
+
+		case "white":
+			match = ColorWhite
+
+		case "bold":
+			match = AttrBold
+
+		case "underline":
+			match = AttrUnderline
+
+		case "reverse":
+			match = AttrReverse
+		}
+
+		result |= match
+	}
+
+	return result
+}
diff --git a/helper_test.go b/helper_test.go
index 86d2a8e..5d277de 100644
--- a/helper_test.go
+++ b/helper_test.go
@@ -63,3 +63,8 @@ func TestTrimStrIfAppropriate(t *testing.T) {
 	assert.Equal(t, "hel…", TrimStrIfAppropriate("hello", 4))
 	assert.Equal(t, "h…", TrimStrIfAppropriate("hello", 2))
 }
+
+func TestStringToAttribute(t *testing.T) {
+	assert.Equal(t, ColorRed, StringToAttribute("ReD"))
+	assert.Equal(t, ColorRed|AttrBold, StringToAttribute("RED, bold"))
+}
diff --git a/textRender.go b/textRender.go
index 2c58b70..04ef135 100644
--- a/textRender.go
+++ b/textRender.go
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ func (r MarkdownTextRenderer) RenderSequence(text string, lastColor, background
 		colorStart, colorEnd := match[4], match[5]
 		contentStart, contentEnd := match[2], match[3]
 
-		color := strings.ToUpper(text[colorStart:colorEnd])
+		color := StringToAttribute(text[colorStart:colorEnd])
 		content := text[contentStart:contentEnd]
 		theSequence := ColorSubsequence{color, contentStart - 1, contentEnd - 1}
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ type RenderedSequence struct {
 
 // A ColorSubsequence represents a color for the given text span.
 type ColorSubsequence struct {
-	Color string // TODO: use attribute
+	Color Attribute
 	Start int
 	End   int
 }
diff --git a/textRender_test.go b/textRender_test.go
index 8ab9151..3eb75f0 100644
--- a/textRender_test.go
+++ b/textRender_test.go
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ func assertRenderSequence(t *testing.T, sequence RenderedSequence, last, backgro
 }
 
 func assertColorSubsequence(t *testing.T, s ColorSubsequence, color string, start, end int) {
-	assert.Equal(t, ColorSubsequence{color, start, end}, s)
+	assert.Equal(t, ColorSubsequence{StringToAttribute(color), start, end}, s)
 }
 
 func TestMarkdownTextRenderer_RenderSequence(t *testing.T) {