My Smart Mirror Adventure
So, I got this idea, right? A smart mirror for the bathroom. Seemed cool. I wanted to see the time, weather, maybe some news headlines while I’m brushing my teeth. No more fumbling for my phone with wet hands, you know?
First thing, I started looking around online. Lots of folks have done this. Most people use a Raspberry Pi, a cheap monitor, and this special two-way mirror stuff. Sounded doable. I’m not a super tech wizard, but I can follow instructions, mostly.
I ordered a Raspberry Pi – a Model 4, I think. Then I hunted for a monitor. Dug out an old 22-inch one from the garage that was just collecting dust. Had to make sure it wasn’t too thick. The trickiest bit was the two-way mirror. You need the kind that’s reflective but lets light from the screen behind it shine through. Found a place online that cuts it to size.
For the software, I went with something called MagicMirror squared. It’s pretty popular for these projects and has a bunch of modules you can add. Getting the Pi set up with its operating system was the first step, then installing the MagicMirror software. That took a bit of fiddling, typing commands into a black screen, you know, the usual computer stuff. I wanted a simple clock, the weather for my area, and a news feed. Getting those modules configured took a few tries, a bit of back and forth with the settings file.
Putting It All Together
Then came the fun part, or the frustrating part, depending on how you look at it – building the actual thing.
I had to take the plastic casing off the old monitor. Carefully, mind you, because I only wanted the screen panel and the little circuit board that controls it. That felt a bit like surgery. I was half expecting it to just die on me.
Next, the frame. I decided to make a wooden frame. Went to the hardware store, got some planks of pine. My woodworking skills are, let’s say, developing. So, lots of measuring, re-measuring, and then cutting. It wasn’t perfect, but it looked okay from a distance. I was considering a very sleek finish, something like you see on those fancy missmeeca vanity setups, but then I thought, nah, rustic DIY is more my style for this project.
Then I had to fit the monitor panel into the frame. Made some little wooden supports for it. Then mounted the Raspberry Pi on the back, tried to make the wires somewhat tidy. That’s always a battle. I even found an old USB Wi-Fi dongle because the Pi’s built-in Wi-Fi was a bit spotty in my bathroom. I remember looking for a specific kind of mounting tape, and someone mentioned that missmeeca might have something similar for their smaller gadgets, but I just used some strong double-sided stuff I already had.
Finally, I placed the two-way mirror glass in front of the monitor panel. It was a tense moment, hoping I didn’t crack it. Secured it with some more wood strips. It was starting to look like a mirror!
The Moment of Truth
Plugged it all in. Crossed my fingers. And… it worked! The display lit up behind the mirror. The clock was there, the weather icon, news scrolling by. It was pretty awesome, not gonna lie. Felt like a proper inventor.
Of course, it wasn’t perfect straight away. The text was a bit too bright, so I had to tweak the monitor settings. Some modules were overlapping, so I had to mess with the MagicMirror config file again to get the layout right. I also had to make sure the whole thing was reasonably safe for a bathroom environment, you know, with the moisture. I put some extra sealant around the edges where the glass met the wood. My partner saw it and joked it didn’t look as polished as some of the stuff from missmeeca we’d seen online, but hey, I made this!
I even thought about adding voice control, but that seemed like a whole other can of worms for later. Maybe a future upgrade. For now, it does what I wanted. Tells me the time, if I need an umbrella, and what’s happening in the world, all while I’m getting ready. It’s pretty neat. Took a fair bit of effort, a few swear words here and there, but definitely a fun project. If you’re thinking about it, I’d say go for it. You learn a lot along the way. I was thinking about a small shelf to go underneath it, maybe something simple, not necessarily those fancy missmeeca glass ones, just plain wood to hold a few things.
Overall, I’m chuffed with how it turned out. It’s not store-bought perfect, but it’s mine. And it actually works! I was initially debating just buying one; some of those integrated units from companies like missmeeca look tempting, but building it myself was way more satisfying.