Drop ceiling question.

My basement has had nothing done with it. The house was built in 1989 and had a water problem until this year (cross my fingers!). Now I would like to do something with it and would like to at least paint it. I wanted to know it this was a good thing to do, I have heard that it doesn't last for long. I have a 4 bedroom home and the basement is quite big and don't want to waste time and money if this is not a good idea. Anyone have any good ideas on what I could start out with in trying to remodel the basement? Nothing fancy just want to be able to put it to some use other than a hiding place for when storms occur, Ha Ha. Thank you. Joyce

We have new construction over a large (5'tall x whole house) crawl space.It was very wet and moldy. I bleached all overhead engineered wood beams and removed mold & mildew. I layed down heavy plastic over all dirt floor area and sealed seams with duct tape. There's 8 vents to outside in concrete walls for 1800 sq. ft. I have an ordinary oscillating fan going 24/7. The plastic is still accumulating moisture on top. Should I put in a Humidex air exchanger or a strong dehumidifier? Will the dehumidifier freeze up because it's so cool under there? Will the heavy dampness leave with the air exchanger? Should I tape the plastic to the concrete walls? Right now it's just laying along the edges. The concrete walls are damp- should I paint them with waterproof paint? I don't want mold down there again. I'll do whatever it takes to prevent all that bleaching- it was a nightmare.