I know your wife thinks drop ceilings are ghetto....grow a pair....she won't spend any time in the finished basement, anyway. The aggravation of trying to fix a wiring problem when the ceiling is drywalled is infuriating, laborous, and expensive.

Leave the drop ceiling out as well and add some sound proof insulation.

Paint black, gray or navy blue and you have the open loft look.

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That is actually what my wife would prefer

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That is actually what my wife would prefer

Do not install anything that interferes with the full-size Golf Simulator.

Thankfully the wife could've cared less. When I got a mount for a heavy & speed bag, I found that I didn't have more than six inches to spare.

I found that I didn't have more than six inches to spare.

Preach to the choir Brother Reader

When finishing a basement, the entire electrical access system may need to be completely redesigned.

An elite electrician will home run virtually everything.

A lazy electrician will install junction boxes everywhere they penetrate down from above.

I finished a basement a few years ago for a client...there were something like 25 junction boxes in the basement ceiling. Would have looked like shit with an access panel for every one. Cost about $5k to rework everything back over to the service panel.

That is brutal. I run the home runs straight up from the panel and into the attic and then drop down to the individual rooms. I have had to clean some of that crap up on a few jobs where they were finishing the basement and drywalling the ceiling. Lets splice the living room 3 way in the ceiling of the basement because that seems like a good idea.

When finishing a basement, the entire electrical access system may need to be completely redesigned.

An elite electrician will home run virtually everything.

A lazy electrician will install junction boxes everywhere they penetrate down from above.

I finished a basement a few years ago for a client...there were something like 25 junction boxes in the basement ceiling. Would have looked like shit with an access panel for every one. Cost about $5k to rework everything back over to the service panel.

teenage kids can't hide stuff in the trellises when you drywall

I know your wife thinks drop ceilings are ghetto....grow a pair....she won't spend any time in the finished basement, anyway. The aggravation of trying to fix a wiring problem when the ceiling is drywalled is infuriating, laborous, and expensive.

Nothing good comes from drywalling an entire basement ceiling.

I used the Armstrong ceiling system that mounts directly to the bottom of the floor joists above- no drop at all- to maximize basement headroom AND provide access. It's not as easy access as a dropped grid, but can be accomplished with a ton of patience and a crick in your neck.

My ceiling is drywalled. I'll take a sledgehammer to it this weekend.