Advice on Basement design - textured wall

[Luc Boiron]

Hi all,

I'm working on another flip in the GTA, just outside of Toronto in Brampton. I'm hoping the BP community could help me decide what to do with this basement.

In the basement, there is this wood trim throughout, and between the trim, there is a type of knock-down stucco/plaster. Pics below.I think it looks pretty ugly. It's also painted very dark right now, which makes it look worse. The ceiling also has this knock down texture. It's also very hard - I tried scraping a small area to see how tough it was and it isn't nearly as soft as "popcorn" ceiling.

As you can see from the pictures, about 1/4 for the basement has had this texture and the trim removed. It doesn't look too off compared to the rest of the space, as it transitions decently well. The previous owner had removed the trim in that area, scraped down the stucco, and then plastered a thick layer over it and smoothed it out. It looks pretty good, other than the dark colours. Part of the ceiling was also smoothed down. It's worth noting that the ceiling is painted the same colour as the walls, which makes it look darker.

I have a few options. The first option is to leave it as is, and just paint it out. The ceiling would be painted white, and the walls could be painted all one colour including the trim, or two colours, perhaps with the walls painted a neutral colour and the trim painted in semi-gloss white.

The second option would be to knock down the stucco and plaster it smooth, then paint it, leaving the trim where it is. I have an estimate from my contractor putting this around $1,800-$2,000, including painting.

The third option is to knock down the stucco and remove the trim, plastering the walls and ceilings smooth and making it look like a normal drywall space. This would likely cost an extra $400-500 over option two, so around $2,200-$2,500.

I should note that the ARV on this is 1,500 sqft house is around $500,000, and the basement is just extra space, perhaps storage or an extra family room. We're doing quite a bit of work upstairs.

So what do you think?