I went out and bought a new power supply (12V 2.5A) and was ready to mount the device and LED's!

I mounted the main unit by my bedside near the ground. The LED strip came with an adhesive on the back, so I stuck that on the long side frame of my bed. Some tape was used as well to help keep the strip on the frame. And here is the result:

Closing thoughts:

This would be a great project for beginners who aren't too familiar with programming. With so many resources out there, I was able to use existing code for the PWM to the LED strips and a library for the RTC. The programming aspect of the project took about an hour or two.

Hardware made up the majority of the project. I had to drill a few holes into the case for the power jack, the motion sensor, and the touch sensor. The main bulk of time was spent soldering components to the prototyping board.

It was a fun little project that ended up being less than $50. Probably 90% of the cost of the project comes just from the power supply and the LED strip. Components like the Nano, motion sensor, and RTC are dirt cheap. My main warning to anyone interested in trying LED strip project is to make sure your power supply can handle the length of LED's you plan to light up. Don't make the same mistake I did!

I've had this installed for a couple days now, and it's still a pleasant surprise whenever I wake up, step out of bed and see the LED strip light up.