Warm air from the finished basement is hitting the cold block, resulting in condensation. Follow the advice above. If that doesn't do the trick, insulate the room with at least a half-inch of XPS and cover with fireproofing material. I'm not sure why we have "cold rooms" anyway. It seems based on the assumption that some huge percentage of the population needs a place to hang homemade sausages and the like. Got wine? Get a proper cooler.

Am I the only one for which the playroom concept hasn't worked well? In our last house, we had a daylight basement and I painted murals on the walls, made a castle playhouse in a corner and put a swing up in the beam. They did love the swing, but if I wasn't down there, the toys just migrated right upstairs and they were with me. For flooring, I would look at some of Tarkett's no glue vinyl. It has a cushion and has the roads for driving cars. I put the glow in the dark stars floor in my youngest's bedroom. Spills wipe easily and it is easy to change as they grow. I chose this for my oldest two son's bedrooms and it looks like punched metal. Very cool. Remember that if the toys are all over the house (basement, other rooms for games) you will end up chasing them all over the house. I would want to consolidate storage. I really prefer laundry baskets for most toy storage. It allows for easy change and the dump factor is good, while not being deep like a tradional toy chest. My youngest is now 6, but when they were smaller I kept on of those bigger Little Tyke climbing things in the room. See if you can hang a swing from a ceiling beam. By far the best indoor toy. You just have to keep "stuff" out of the swing zone. The blackboard paint sounds fun. You can also leave the windows bare and use glass markers which just wash off. I have found child sized tables don't always allow for enough room for projects. I have a round coffee table which has small chairs I've picked up different places. If I was going to do it again, I would buy a kitchen table at the thrift store and cut down the legs to use as a craft table. It would wipe easier than my coffee table. If you do use any type of bookcases, I wouldn't have them project out from the wall. Be sure and attach them to the wall with L brackets to eliminate the tip factor if someone decides to climb. And mine always have climbed. I made our inside playhouse out of a 4' x 8' piece of plywood. Cut in half and put at a 90 degree angle with L bracket, it went right into a corner. Since I had 2 boys at that time, I cut it so it was shaped like a castle and painted the wall corner to match. They would crawl in there with pillows. At two, I can't think your child will spend much time in there alone, so be prepared to make a corner for yourself with a rocker or comfortable chair. I would also just pick an easy decorating theme. Primary colors is the easiest. So much stuff is really cute, but they grow very fast. A four year old just isn't thrilled with those bunnies like they are at two. I've seen the splattered paint floor idea. You have to leave the plywood subfloor bare and paint in and seal. I wouldn't care for it unless the paint splatters were planned. As part of the decorating, I would pick a spot for a growth chart. Put in on a board or something, so in case you do end up moving you don't have to cut a chunck of the drywall out. I knew someone who actually ended up having to do that because she couldn't leave the pencil marks behind. I had to paint over ours when we moved. Sigh. Have fun! Gloria

Mamagoose, the fold up bed which becomes a dresser is similar to the ones we saw in Ireland in the castle and museum near Shannon. It is like the shaker pegs up high that they would hang chairs from, or even small chests hung on the wall from the "chair rail" and the wainscoting rail which was even higher up the wall. The shakers did not waste an inch of space. And it was flexible for use in different ways. I was thinking of the 4 captain's chairs (Windsor wooden) that my DH wants to keep, but which have no place in the house. I'm planning a high wooden board with good pegs spread on it, in my Teahouse, up high above the cement blocks where the wood framing for the end gables and the roofline begins. I'll hang those four chairs up there to preserve them. Also, if you think about it, a huge table can host a mattress. My former neighbor had a raised captain's bed built with draw curtains and a huge assortment of drawers beneath. Her grandson now has her house, she lives with his parents. Her home thus is staying in the family. The house was a small post WWII construction that my friend bought for her retirement. But it is back to serving a younger generation.

I sold my house with an unfinished basement this past summer that was located in Northern VA. I would recommend you finish off your laundry space for your own enjoyment, not necessarily because it may add value. Your descriptions of the space and your comments lead me to believe you would like to have that renovation for yourself. You can replace the concrete sink with a sink/cabinet from Lowes/Home Depot for a couple of hundred dollars. As others pointed out, you can brighten up the space for minimal outlay. (Definitely get rid of that floor before you market your house. Buyers do notice dirt and perceived lack of maintenance. Keeping my house clean and maintained was how I was able to get it sold in a soft market last summer, despite the disadvantage of the unfinished basement).