diff --git a/src/converse-chatboxes.js b/src/converse-chatboxes.js
index 0ad031ca4..36da744a9 100644
--- a/src/converse-chatboxes.js
+++ b/src/converse-chatboxes.js
@@ -7,11 +7,17 @@
 /*global define */
 
 (function (root, factory) {
-    define(["converse-core", "backbone.overview"], factory);
-}(this, function (converse) {
+    define([
+        "converse-core",
+        "tpl!chatboxes",
+        "backbone.overview"
+    ], factory);
+}(this, function (converse, tpl_chatboxes) {
     "use strict";
+
     const { Backbone, Promise, Strophe, b64_sha1, moment, utils, _ } = converse.env;
 
+
     converse.plugins.add('converse-chatboxes', {
 
         overrides: {
@@ -411,6 +417,12 @@
                 initialize () {
                     this.model.on("add", this.onChatBoxAdded, this);
                     this.model.on("destroy", this.removeChat, this);
+                    this.render();
+                },
+
+                render () {
+                    this.el.innerHTML = tpl_chatboxes();
+                    this.row_el = this.el.querySelector('.row');
                 },
 
                 _ensureElement () {
@@ -440,6 +452,13 @@
                     }
                 },
 
+                insertRowColumn (el) {
+                    /* Add a new DOM element (likely a chat box) into the
+                     * the row managed by this overview.
+                     */
+                    this.row_el.insertAdjacentElement('afterBegin', el);
+                },
+
                 onChatBoxAdded (item) {
                     // Views aren't created here, since the core code doesn't
                     // contain any views. Instead, they're created in overrides in
diff --git a/src/templates/chatboxes.html b/src/templates/chatboxes.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..efd74b4b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/templates/chatboxes.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<div class="row no-gutters"></div>