Lighting the home and office

My wife has beautiful glassware. Beautiful enough that we decided to put it on display.

A cabinet with glass doors didn't really show it off, though. Once I installed mirrors behind the shelves and added lighting, the result became much more striking.

I also tried semi-reflective film on the cabinet's glass doors. The idea was to use the mirrors to create the illusion of glassware stretching on forever. The experiment didn't quite work as intended: the film turned out to be too dark.

So not everything deserves a place in the final build, however interesting the idea may be.

I've also made lighting and other practical solutions for my own office.

I installed proper LED strips on the ceiling, operated by an ordinary light switch. I wanted enough light without needing separate controllers or apps just to turn it on.

We have automatic night lighting at home. At 9 pm a red LED strip turns on and lights the floor. It lets you move around at night without switching on bright main lights.

The night lighting turns off at seven in the morning.

A smart plug handles the timing. I've set the schedule in a phone app, and the lighting can also be controlled over the internet when needed.

The grow lights run on the opposite schedule: on at seven in the morning, off at nine in the evening.

Small automations like these aren't necessarily technical marvels, but they make everyday life a little nicer.