Definitely a quick fix; I just wondering how it would handle being walked on without rolling up, if only secured on the edges....

Great idea and it will keep the floor underneath clean too (as long as it doesn't scratch it. Perhaps with a thin layer of something between to protect original floor and slip-proof the new cut out.

This is an unrealistic "fix". It's really hard to do if you don't have a completely square room. It will be very time consuming and look unfinished on the edges. I have done it on a gross kitchen floor, but only temporarily for a photography set. I thought it would work to do the whole room and leave it in place but decided against it based on how hard it was to get right and how weird it looked on the temporary piece- altho it worked great for photography purposes.

This wouldn't work for a kitchen or bathroom really, but those carpet squares that are rubber on the bottom and short pile/outdoorish type carpet on the top are another option. They are easy to cut with a utility knife and work great. I used a dark grey carpet tile for four years in our last apartment. They looked nice, were a cheap solution to our ugly floor, and if you stained an area beyond repair, then you only need to replace that section.

I used Traffic Master flooring on an awful bathroom floor in my last flat. It does take time to cut and fit properly, but it looked SO much better and was much easier to clean. When we moved, it came up easily and didn't add any damage underneath. This fix was amazing!

One way you can get this fix to work better would be to cut the vinyl to shape leaving a border around the edge of the old vinyl. The hot glue will not damage the floor, however if the choice of vinyl you've made to lay down is a complementary color you can definitely make a more pleasing overlay. Then, seal all the way around the edge with a thin line of hot glue (you don't want schmutz sneaking in). You should be able to remove that easily while still having a nicer main area to view. A good planning tool is to put down butcher paper and shape it first, then use that template to cut out the vinyl. A rounded corner radius of 6" to 1' would be good and look far cleaner than a 90 degree corner and will look far more intentional as well (just use a big coffee can as your pattern for the round). Voila!

An easier and more stylish way would be to use some Trafficmaster tiles from Home Depot or big box store. They are like $1.50 per 12" tile and you can even grout in-between them, giving your floor a beautiful ceramic tile-like finish. Best thing of all, they're very, very easy to use. I tiled over our ugly and worn out tile floor in our bathroom with these tiles... for $75 and a few hours work, the difference is incredible.

I've removed the trim pieces on the old floor, then laid down a vapor barrier (it's like a thin sheet of fabric), then laid down square vinyl tiles, then relaid the trim pieces. You don't even need to use the full vinyl tile adhesive - I used a double stick carpet tape between the vinyl tile and vapor barrier. When it's time to move it's easy to reverse the process and the old floor is restored to it's former 'glory' (that term loosely used... of course).

I bought one of those bamboo "rugs" from World Market, the ones that are just slats with fabric edging. Turns out, you can totally cut those with big scissors and it works great to hide the ghastly flooring in my apartment bathroom (terra cotta and black checker tiles? Really?).

I have used carpet tiles in my first apartment, and they were ok. Seams started to show after awhile - and the ones I had collected a lot of pet hair. In my second place, I found a really great indoor/outdoor rug with a sisal feel.

The secret is to make a stencil of the floor. Tape together sheets of newspaper, and trace/cut the shape of the floor ahead of time. Then trace your stencil on the back of your carpet (upside down, so that it's backwards), and cut it out. You should have a perfect fit, and it will be much easier than trying to do those cuts on the spot.

The "Allure" vinyl flooring from Home Depot improved my bathroom floor immeasurably. It's not as easy to cut as they say it is (cross-wise is no problem, it's lengthwise that's a real pain!) BUT that being said, I laid the flooring over a hideously old, grey, stained hexagonal tile bathroom floor. $200 and a couple of hours of work later, I am 250% happier with the bathroom. And as a previous poster noted, I can pull it up and take it with me if and when I ever move.

Also, for the edges where the floor meets the wall, I used a packet of adhesive cord covers from Ikea I had lying around from another project. It's not 100% perfect, but it covered over all the rough edges pretty well, they gave everything a nice, finished, baseboard-y look with minimal labor and expense, and now I can actually bear looking at the floor.

My apartment has terrible carpeting. It has carpet IN the kitchen. I wish I could get rid of it... alas.

I have done this -- with fantastic, permanent if you want it, results. The key is the product: something called "Habitat" flooring from my local discount flooring retailer. (It only came in two options: black&white check, and typical beige-blah) They told me that it's a german product, and is designed to vacuum-seal itself down to your floor -- it does not slip, it does not curl. It's got a somewhat rubbery quality. It cuts like butter with a good pair of scissors. To cut to size: make a paper pattern of the floor with contractors paper covering most of the floor, and something rigid, like index cards, around the perimeter. Trace pattern with a sharpie onto flooring, cut, slap it down on your floor, edge with quarter-round if you want it to look extra nice and tidy. I cannot recommend this enough. Oh yes -- $0.99/square foot on a twelve-foot roll

My current apartment has carpet in the kitchen. The second time I dropped an egg I realized that had to go (I bake a lot). I bought a roll of surplus vinyl at Home Depot for $35, and used carpet tape. It's not gorgeous, but it's better than the god awful carpet that was there before. We just used an exacto knife to cut around the edges. It should come up fine, there was a flood type situation in the corner and the glue just dissolved.

When the flooring in a kitchen is truly heinous (like the mental institution style, completely stripped commercial tile I had in one run-down kitchen), I have no problem sticking down new self stick vinyl tile squares.

Be sure to search for tips online for a successful install. The benefit of actually being able to clean the new temporary floor outweighs any potential fight with the landlord on the modification, in my opinion (they might even be thankful).

I also had a friend in the same building who stripped the bathroom tiles, cleaned the grout and then re-sealed the tile. The end result was sparkling and amazingly clean.

you could also do combo... hot glue the cheapest ugliest vinyl sheet flooring you can find vinyl side down and use the AT floor stencil tutorial on the back of the vinyl flooring {use floor clothe tutorial to prep and then design away} to make a completely unique, customized look and still have ability to remove and take with... and leave the original for your landlord. When you are ready to leave, you can remove your stenciled/painted masterpiece and turn into floor clothes for your next place by cutting into runners/mats/area rugs

@Isabelle_L, your video should be required viewing for anyone installing ANY type of tile. Thanks for the layout tutorial.

I did this in my tiny studio apartment kitchen in boston. Though I used double-sided carpet/rug tape to secure it, it worked brilliantly. In fact, i left it down when I moved out because the landlord thought it was a good fix.

i used the trafficmaster allure tiles in my rental kitchen ... they'd had circa 1981 asbestos industrial looking, completely worn vinyl tiles. honestly they wouldn't notice if i had stuck down actual tile (it's a 300 unit building and they're ripping out kitchens as units are vacated anyway)... 200% better.

one caveat is that they scratch rather easily, so watch out moving appliances.

I got self-adhesive vinyl tiles. They look fabulous and so much better than the pee-yellow painted cement that has seen better days in the bathroom and kitchen.

I used the tips from Engineer your space to cut around the strange shapes on the floor (definitely not a square room) - and it looks professional.

AND most importantly - it's super easy to clean!

I don't know if all landlords would allow it, but I remember when my Grandma moved into one apartment, there was this horrible swimmingpool blue paint on the lower half of the walls, with a gold-ish stripe above it. She spoke to the landlord about it and managed to get him to agree to paying for the paint to paint over it if she organised the actual doing of the painting (her preferred contractors being Dad and myself). This meant that at least she had nice, neutral walls to deal with instead of something that was god-awful. I'd suspect that at least some landlords would agree to something like this, especially if you were going to be a long-term tenant.

There is vinyl that is especially meant to be left unglued and just tacked down around the edges. I think the hot glue gun idea is pretty cute if it really doesn't damage the floor. Some landlords might even be willing to provide the vinyl if you provide the labor. I know, as a landlord, I possibly would. Depends how crappy the tile looks. Sometimes changing the tile means changing the sink, etc., so it gets put off. Also, it is hard to change some of that stuff while there is a tenant in the unit and there can be very little time between tenants.

Worth a shot, but what did you do about the transition piece? I could easily do my kitchen floor, which currently has ugly stick on tiles that are lifting, but am concerned that it would have hazardous lip where it's cut off and connects to the hardwood in the living room. Any suggestions?

Thanks so much @quiltmaster - I appreciate it!