Looks straightforward enough to me. Except you will need an egress window for the bedroom/living area. Labour prices are extremely local.

Discussions about fire ratings can go off the rails quickly but I will try to clarify what the subject if anyone cares to understand it. I should have said that the drywall required under a stair does not have to be "fire-resistant"; in other words, it doesn't have to carry a fire-resistance classification of Type X or Type C and can be ordinary drywall. No material by itself is "fire-rated", only "assemblies" can be fire-rated (assemblies = fire walls, fire separation partitions and floor-ceiling assemblies). "Type X" drywall is defined as fire-resistant drywall that when applied to each side of wood wall studs can remain intact after 1 hour of exposure to fire from one side and then a fire hose stream test. When that standard was developed, the drywall that would do that happened to be 5/8" thick so today 5/8" fire-resistant drywall is labeled as Type X. Half inch thick fire-resistant drywall is labeled as Type C and can achieve fire-ratings of 1 to 3 hours in various assemblies as tested by UL and other agencies. Fire-resistant drywall and regular drywall both resist fire by releasing large amounts of water vapor from the gypsum core when heated but fire-resistant drywall has fibers in it that allow it to still be intact longer and withstand a hose stream test thereby preventing hot gasses and flame from spreading to adjacent spaces for a longer period of time. When Type X or C drywall is used on both sides of a wall or as a ceiling the resulting assembly can pass a test giving it a fire-resistance rating in minutes or hours. The drywall required under a stair is not part of a tested assembly so it isn't fire-rated but it will protect the stair of a home long enough for the occupants to escape. Since the inspector did not mention the hole for the refrigerator he probably did not see it. If the refrigerator actually penetrates the wall under the stair, a wall must be installed behind it. As has already been pointed out this is a serious hazard to egress. This post was edited by Renovator8 on Thu, Aug 1, 13 at 16:16

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.

Okay so if we close in the lower set of stairs with risers, make all the treads wood including the landing and add white skirts around the inside - the new cost is $6350....Most of you want us to get rid of the carpet on the stairs, but when you know the cost is $6350 you say skip it. I'm saying to forget the white skirt, to caulk the gap between the drywall and stringer, tidy up the stringer with some sanding & spackle... AND, look under the carpet to see what the actual treads look like. We don't know what is hiding underneath the carpet. How long have you lived in the house? Did you have the current carpet installed? Do you know what is beneath the carpet on the stairs? Because $6300 + is a lot of money to be throwing at what isn't, IMO, an eyesore.