The stairs are wood but have been painted a dark green (make that 5 different surfaces in the basement :( LOL )

People tend to like soft surface in living area and tile in wet areas. Try a vinyl limestone composite tile like Alterna.

Does the basement get damp? If so, no carpeting. Wood look tiles through out the space, and area rugs where you want some soft underfoot.

"Resale Value" is all about where you live. A Canadian home buyer (-20 to -40 in winter is always a possibility) would be hesitant to purchase a home with polished concrete or ceramic tiles throughout a basement...a buyer in Nevada or California would have no problems with cool hard surfaces in a basement.

Canadians would prefer a carpet or cork (for comfort and warmth) whereas someone in a hot climate would be fine with cold.

Remember: polished or finished concrete has a "lifestyle" price tag attached to it: $5-$25/sf is the range. A no-nonsense epoxy finish (no stain, no etching, nothing by epoxy and "ugly" concrete) is close to $5/sf. And a high-end, multiple colour stain/etching with epoxy coating =$25/sf (these are magnificent floors).

In my area (Canada) I'm seeing concrete floors (finished or unfinished) covered up inside of 7 years. Some people cover them inside of 3 years because they discover how much they dislike them. That means paying for a floor twice in less than 10 years.

Wood look tile is nice. We have quite a bit of it, but we have radiant floor heating so it's warm all winter. I do think carpet in the living areas in the basement is very nice and a lot more inviting. You could always carpet the stairs too.

We have very nice vinyl floor tiles in our recently (6months ago) finished basement. We chose them because they look like wood but won't be permanently damaged by a little bit of water. We have two area rugs because we don't want it to feel cold. I am serious when I say that most people that visit complement us on the nice floors and can't belie they're not wood. Just something to consider if water in the basemen is a possibility.

I would talk to a realtor. We just moved to a new area and had no idea that it is a bad idea to carpet a basement around here. Turns out basements often flood in this area (we had no idea). I would not spend the money on carpet only to find out there may be issues down the road.

Thanks everyone! I REALLY appreciate all of your comments and advice! We live in Tennessee so it's quite warm in the summer and winters aren't too cold. Thanks again :)

Yes - first find out how dry your basement is. Neighbors often know if a house has had water problems or if other homes in the neighborhood do. I am presently removing carpet and installing tile because of occasional (once ever 5 years) seepage into the basement during flash floods after over saturating spring rains. It doesn't happen often, but it is a mess when it does because the carpet pad sucks up the water. The carpet was warmer, but we will put down area rugs that can be removed if the threat of seepage occurs.

If I could afford the in floor heat under the tile, it would be wonderful and cozy warm.