[eesmith]

Your interests are much more aligned with engineering than with physics.

Pick a school and compare the physics program with the engineering ones to see which are more aligned with your interests.

I picked Iowa semi-arbitrarily. Here are recent undergraduate physics projects - https://physics.uiowa.edu/undergraduate-program/recent-under... . None of them deal with everyday things, that I could tell. Most deal with space science or astrophysics. (Other schools might be more focused on, say, solid state physics or particle physics.)

Then take a look at the mechanical engineering program, at https://me.engineering.uiowa.edu/undergraduate-program and the student outcomes at https://me.engineering.uiowa.edu/about/mechanical-engineerin... .

If there is a college nearby, visit and talk to an admissions councilor.