I'm a new hamster owner who's made a few posts on here now. I mentioned upgrading because my hybrid, Egg, wasn't happy with her first cage (an 800 square inch DIY built around an entertainment center) and I finally finished it this week! She's been in it for two days and so far, she seems way happier (knock on wood). She's not scrabbling at the walls constantly or chewing on the plexiglass (mostly because there is no plexi to chew on, but still) and I love watching her exploring the space. As I write this, she's digging her way through the whole cage. When she was in her last cage, she barely burrowed at all, so I'm amazed at the way she'll dig down and then completely disappear (except for a rustling noise) for hours now!
The new cage is about 2,200 square inches. All four walls are melamine, but I have the cage next to the sofa I spend most of my time on, so all I have to do is lean over and look through the mesh lid to find out what she's up to
I'm very excited about all the things I can do now that we have more space to work in -- I'm planning on getting a big multi chamber hideout, a proper sandbath, and putting in way more bedding, since the cage is also almost two feet high. I'm very glad I was able to update her cage and I love how much she seems to love it. And I would never have had the confidence to build something like this by myself without being able to consult this forum, so thank you!