Inspirations
Smart Coffee Mug: Useful or Just a Gimmick?
Have you ever wondered if you actually need a smart coffee mug? Recently, I received one as a gift from my colleagues, and I dove into exploring its potential. ☕…
Author: the_smart_home_maker
Interviews
Local First vs. Cloud in Smart Homes: Which Strategy Is Right for You?
🏠 Local First Strategy: Taking Control Into Your Own Hands When thinking about smart homes, a Local First strategy often comes up. The goal? To handle as much as possible…
Inspirations
Upgrade Your Home Network with UniFi: A Personal Experience
Have you ever felt that your home network setup is holding you back? For quite some time, I felt that my trusty Fritzbox was just not cutting it anymore. I…
Inspirations
Spring Awakening: Extending Smart Home to the Garden
As spring blooms, it's the perfect time to expand your smart home into the garden. Discover how integrating smart technology can enhance your outdoor space. 🌿 Smart Soil Sensors One…
Inspirations
Door Closed, World Off? Staying Connected in a Basement Home Office
My office is in the basement. For many, that sounds like a gloomy dungeon, but for me, it is the ultimate place for deep work and focus. Down here, there…
Inspirations
2025 Recap: From AI Voice Bots to DIY Hardware – My Best Smart Home Upgrades
2025 was, without a doubt, one of the wildest years for my Smart Home journey so far. From teaching my house to make phone calls for me, to soldering custom…
Inspirations
Smart Home 2026: Why Your Current Setup is “Stupid” (And What’s Coming Next)
Let's be honest: Today's smart home is often more of a "remote control" than actual intelligence. We shout commands, push buttons, or get annoyed at motion sensors that leave us…
Tutorials
From Boring to Brilliant: The Smart IKEA FADO Upgrade with ESPHome
Why settle for a boring, static light when you can have a smart home masterpiece that reacts to your touch? Today, I’m taking a generic glass sphere lamp and giving…
Tutorials
Smarter TV Timer Automation: Using AI to Detect Kids Content in Home Assistant
In my recent talk with Lukas from Hobbyblogging, we talked about our favorite automations and stumbled upon a fun challenge in my setup: the TV timer automation I use when…
Inspirations
Which Automations Make Our Home Really Smart
In this episode, I sit down with Lukas from hobbyblogging to talk about the smart-home automations we personally rely on every single day. We walk through the routines that quietly…