Thinking about finishing our basement next year. Need advice.?

Definitely check out the photo galleries of some basement design companies to get some ideas. One great photo gallery you can check out is at:

http://www.spacements.com/

Creating practical living spaces in the basement would be the most marketable in the future if you want to sell your home. Think of what you would like in your basement but don't feel like you need to cram all those rooms into your basement either. What's most important to you? A children's play room? A home theater? A wet bar? Think about your needs first and the rest will follow. I think looking at photo galleries online will give you a great place to start.

If you finish the whole basement as one room, you still just have a basement! Just with nicely finished walls and ceiling. That's fine if you like wide open spaces, but if you are interested in resale value, you would be better adding actual functional rooms especially bedrooms. In most area's this can now be counted as living space and added to the square feet of living space listed. Now! if you add a bedroom, it will have to have an egress window. that's no big deal if it's a walkout basement, but if it's fully buried, you will have to cut out the concrete for an egress window which has to be a certain size. then dig and put a big window well so you can actually open the window and get out of it in emergencies. that can be a bit costly.

Definitely another bedroom will give you more bang for the buck. I also don't recommend one big space because in my experience, basements are already hard to heat and dehumidify. If you have smaller spaces, you have a better chance of being comfortable. Definitely build out walls around the furnace and appliances because they can be noisy. Be sure door opening is large enough to get the dryer out when it needs replacing. Good luck!!