I am looking for a way to spruce up an uneven, pitted concrete wall in the basement, any cost effective ideas?

I have been able to drywall around the other concrete walls, but this one has a water pipe running across it and I would just like to try and make it look nice and hoping to do it in a cost effective manner that wouldn't make my husband flip.

You can paint both the wall and the pipe. There are special sealers for concrete to keep water, mold, mildew off. Just clean up the concrete and pipes with some water mixed with a little bleach and use a stiff bristled deck brush to scrub it up a bit. Then give it a day or 2 to totally dry and paint it whatever colors you want.

Paint/plaster it using a brush or sponge, and make swirling motions the size of a dinner plate all over the wall, the design will distract the eye from any imperfections. If possible, put a shelf above pipe to disguise it, or hang small picture frames from the pipe with pretty ribbons, or thin cord/rope, depending on your current decoration style. Depending on how high or low the pipe is, if it's high enough hang a curtain which will be a few inches below the pipe.

If the pipe is vertical (up and down), you can also be creative and attach another pipe about one foot or wider away from the one already there. Place rungs, as a ladder, and use them as thin shelves for nick-knacks, CDs, record albums, etc. You can build the ladder separately, and just place it between the two pipes. It will look as if it was purposely placed there! Boxing the pipe is an easy way to hide the pipe and you'll have a place to display picture frames, etc on top of it, like a shelf.

I guess I'll agree with boxing in the pipe, but not so permanently that it can be accessed in the event it has to be.

You could still drywall the wall, studding it first, or get really different, and apply a fiberglass based stucco, trowled on and painted.

You could hang a drape, paneling, lose the distance from the wall that the pipe stands away and make a false wall, etc. etc.

Cost effective pretty much depends on your budget, and materials, and method you choose

You could try making a box-type enclosure around the pipe and drywall above and below it. With some imagination you could make that box serve as a shelf for something attractive.

Another cheaper approach is to hang a thick ceiling-to-floor curtain over the wall and its pipes. That takes more effort to make it look good but is very inexpensive.

Box the pipe and drywall around it? Use furring strips to stand the new drywall away from the pipe? Shirr fabric and attach it to top and bottom of the wall? Fabric stretched on simple wooden frames?