So a few things: -Be careful doing dark flooring and a dark ceiling. It may feel like the room is closing in on you. I'd go lighter for one of them -Don't do laminate in a basement. Laminate is water resistant at best, but even that's kind of a lie. Go for LVP (laminate vinyl planking) instead. It's far more durable for a basement. -Dark floors show everything. They're nearly impossible to keep looking nice so just keep that in mind when picking flooring. -The brick column looks nice, don't worry about it -Stair modifications (even adding drawers under) should be done by a pro only. Never DIY stairs because there's a lot of structural math involved and local codes. -Pick paint after everything else is installed. It will really help you determine what the best colors are.

What climate do you live in? I would be concerned about humidity fluctuations, ceiling boards shifting, and the bead of caulk cracking and dust still coming through. Vacuum as best you can, seal it up, but in the end, you may find yourself with a drop ceiling after all.

Thank you Emily! This layout looks interesting. I love the desk area at that location. I want to add a bookcase or something similar next to the desk. I will measure and move things around to see how I feel about putting the sofa in the middle and tv on the wall across from the stairs. Yes, we are going to replace the floor but we haven’t looked at what options there are. As for the chest freezer, I could actually either remove it or put it in the laundry room. The corner on the lower right corner is where the stairs from the top land - sorry for not making it clear on my initial drawing. The door across from the bathroom is for the storage space under the stairs. We have family usually visit us once a year and the my stay for a few weeks. We used to have sleeper sofas but they weren’t that comfortable so that is why we got these super comfy portable beds with memory foam mattresses that we put out when needed.

As Joe said, cutting through the concrete wall is not a problem; we do that all the time when customers decide to finish a basement and want to add a door or a window. That said if you are located in a 4 seasonal region and you're dealing with frost... you will have to frost-proof your existing footing, which will involve extra work, you will need an engineer to provide you with a frost-protected detail on how properly protect your footing from frost to prevent "heave" and that additional work will bring the cost up. Windows are much easier to install and involve less work, cut the hole, prep the opening, and install the window. As insulation goes we put studs walls against it, the only place insulation is being cut 10' on center where you have to provide vertical firestops. Good luck.