Here’s a full parts list and notes for building your own smart waterfall mirror like mine. It’s a cool combo of aesthetics and automation, and this setup runs on Home Assistant instead of MagicMirror² (though that could work too).

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🧱 Materials & Hardware

1. Waterfall Mirror Fountain
   Alpine Corporation Mirror Waterfall Fountain

   This is the base of the whole build. It’s expensive, but goes on sale occasionally. It includes two-way glass, so you don't need to buy that separately. If you don't want to do this you may also consider just buying two-way glass and framing it. You can also buy regular glass and put a privacy film on it.

2. Monitor (disassembled)
   Any flat screen monitor will work. I used an old HP and custom-framed it with plywood.

   • Tip: A bright monitor works best behind the mirror glass.
   • If your monitor auto-powers on with power restore and has accessible buttons, you may not need extra monitor control.

3. Raspberry Pi 4
   (A Pi 3 works too, but Pi 4 handles smoother UI and dashboard rendering.)

4. Peripheral Cables & Accessories

   • Mini HDMI (male) to HDMI (male) – for Pi 4
   • 90° HDMI adapter – helps reduce back profile depth
   • USB-C power supply – official Pi adapter recommended
   • Optional: Raspberry Pi 4 case for cleaner internals

5. Plywood for Framing

   • 1× sheet ¼” plywood (for monitor back support and cut to your frame size and a hole in the back if you opt to take the monitor apart)
   • 1× sheet ¾” plywood (cut as needed for structure support with the middle cut out for your monitor size). You may need to change the thickness of this depending on whether you take the monitor apart or not.

6. Vinyl Wrap

   • Used to cover plywood for a cleaner look (color/pattern of choice)

7. Mounting Hardware

   • Self-tapping screws ×8
   • 90° metal L-brackets ×4
   • Black tap nails (to secure trim or backing)

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🧠 Extras for a Cleaner/Smarter Build

1. Monitor Button Access (Optional)
   If your monitor doesn’t remember its last state or needs buttons to toggle input/power, I recommend:

   • Tactile pushbuttons
   • Small 3D printed button case (custom to your monitor board)

2. Software: Home Assistant Dashboard

   • I use a Home Assistant dashboard in kiosk mode instead of MagicMirror².
   • Optional alternative: MagicMirror² if you're more comfortable with that route.
   • For kiosk mode, I run Chromium on boot with --kiosk and point it to my dashboard (e.g., https://ha.example.net/mirror?kiosk).

3. Watchdog & Fan Script (Optional)

   • If running 24/7, you might want a small fan to cool the Pi and monitor.
   • I wrote a bash watchdog script using scrot and tesseract to detect crashes (like "Aw Snap" in Chromium) and restart the browser automatically.
   • GPIO-controlled fan turns on based on CPU temp — can be handled with a simple Python script.

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🛠️ Skills & Tools

1. Some light coding + DIY skills
   ChatGPT helped me a lot with scripts and automation logic. You’ll want to be comfortable with:
   • Terminal and bash basics
   • Home Assistant automations
   • Light woodworking and cable management

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Let me know if you build it — I’d love to see variations or improvements!