i plan to do it as well use ceiling material that is easy to remove like a drop ceiling so if yo need to get to the floor above or pips for flood tile or concrete painted or a hardwood no carpet

on the wall make sure you insulate there is a spray foam insulation that you can put plaster of or just paint look up handi foam spray for the columns 1by4 or 1by6 or get a kit for the columns

another thought check your building codes most city's require a 2nd exit incase of fire be it a basement outside door or a special sized window

also there are other code you must follow and you must keep any combustible material 2 feet from the furnace

if you need any more info send me a pm i am remodeling my entire house and might be able to give you some points as to what to do and not to do

what i like about the basement is that it seems to stay cool in the Summer and not to hard to keep warm in the winter since most of it is under ground