You need to keep the humidity level in the basement below 50% to not have a musty smell. Have you measured the humidity level in your basement? Maybe you aren't running the dehumidifier enough or your dehumidifier isn't working propertly. We live in Wisconsin and are required by code to have styrofoam or some other type of insulation on our basement walls. At our last house, we had styrofoam that had a concrete skim coat on it to protect it, which might be what you have because the concrete didn't do a very good job of protecting the styrofoam. At our current house we have styrofoam again but covered it with somehting else. Both of these houses had finished basements and and don't smell musty at all unless someone messes with with the dehumidifier so the humidity is higher than 50%. I can't imagine that the foam on the exterior of your foundation is causing the musty smell. If the prior owners didn't use the dehumidifier enough, the musty smell may be coming from materials in the basement that picked it up and you may need to clean those with something like lysol to get rid of the smell. But if your basement feels damp to you, then I would guess that it's too humid and running the dehumidifier more should help. Also, you can't rely on the dehumidifier settings to acurately reflect the humidity level of your basement--we bought a separate device that measures humidity. Good luck.

I like the idea of the gray also~include the lattice. Just lighten it up to a shade that please you. Have shutters/doors in darker gray.

Cream to match the siding would be safe. With your color scheme just about any color would work. Drive around and take note of what others have done and see what grabs you. And remember, you don't have to paint the foundation at all.

The concrete hasn't been power washed since they took the forms off. Looks ugly now. the porch is approximately 16 x 30 and then a 16 x 16 screened porch on the far side. I haven't decided weather to bring the stairs down in front or off the side.