My husband just did this. He took a wide blade topping compound tool and applied the topping (used for sheetrock seams) in broad random overlapping strokes to the cinder block. It is very important to fill in the division lines between the blocks first, though. After it dried, he primed it and painted it the color he wanted. It looks very European old world and super!!.

If our concrete floor hadn’t been left with ugly glue from the laminate we removed, we would have used concrete stain which comes in many colors and is super trendy right now (plus cheap). Otherwise, the laminate tile do it yourself squares come in great stone like patterns now and are not expensive. Still more than concrete stain, though.

For the ceiling, the least expensive solution would be drywall which I doubt you could do yourself. It is cumbersome and very heavy although it is cheap. There is also the metal grid and soundproof panel ceiling systems that you could do yourself. They cost more and would be a bummer to install but it wouldn’t be backbreaking like the sheetrock would. Ask the home improvement store clerk for cheap lightweight alternatives to sheetrock that you might use.

Good luck!! : )

The cheapest way is wood and sheetrock, but the right way would be to use pressure treated wood anywhere it touches the concrete.

You could just lay pressure treated 2×4s on the floor, cover them with plywood, and then build the outside walls with kiln dried 2×4, keeping a space between the kiln dried and the block walls.

Right now, sheet rock is around $5 a sheet, pretty cheap.

You could always just paint the block walls too.