How about linoleum? Ecological, very durable and should be cheapish too, no? Don't be put off by its bad reputation- a lot of it comes from people confusing linoleum with cheaper vinyl as well as some really bad patterns back in the day. There was a post on it on the kitchen some weeks back.

Carpet tile. You can purchase binding strips to temporarily lock the tiles together, and take them with you when you move out someday.

Laminate flooring can be free-floated on this floor with a thin cushion pad that also is easily removable.

It looks like you're looking for something really permanent, but since it's a pretty small space, could you use a few rugs and cover the majority of the space that way? It's potentially less investment than anything you'll be able to do on a small budget. Sold hardwood would cost a few thousand dollars, and wouldn't necessarily be worth it since you don't own the place.

I covered my old tile flooring with Allure TrafficMaster linoleum flooring. It looks like wood, needs no subflooring, and is about $1.60/square foot. We loved it so much that two years later we covered our entire basement renovation with the same flooring. Here are some before and after pictures...

http://www.no29design.com/2012/04/all-finished-basement.html

I love carpet squares, but they are rarely more economical that laminate.
The truth is carpet will be by far you most economical option. If you are comfortable with the look and don't have sever indoor allergies, it is probably the way to go. If you are a comfortable DIYer you can but carpet remnants and bind the edges yourself for easily for a fraction of the price.

As far as laminate scratching, it is important to note that there is a huge variety in the quality of laminate, how easily they will scratch, you may decide you don't want it for other reason like softness, or the more durable varieties may be out of you price range, but I wouldn't dismiss the whole category as tending toward getting scratched up.

This post is a bit frustrating to me since A) we can't see the living room space which seems to be the one the author is most concerned about and B) How permanent is permanent? Any stipulations in the lease on what you can and can not do?

For a cheapie fix, I'd just paint the damn thing a solid color (like a light gray with some specialty paint at a high gloss) and invest in some really nice rugs. Nice rugs are an investment you can take with you or resell. Seriously, for the price of putting down new floor you could have a pretty nice Semi-Antique oriental rug or several dhurries. Or you could get a really nice modern wool rug.

Another option if you want to simulate tile or turn your floor into one of those highly polished concrete floors you see in places like Whole Foods, is one of my favorite products - Skimstone, a concrete bonding paint that really does cover all surfaces and makes them into stunning tile/concrete/mosaic/modern loft/whatever look you might want stone or concrete looks. Very versatile and cheap. I used Skimstone to cover my very ugly painted plywood counters (!!!) and now they look, feel and act exactly like expensive concrete ones and it only cost about $200 for 150 sq feet. http://www.skimstone.com/

Another option I've always been smitten with is, brace yourself, leather floor tiles. No, really. Look at this stunner. Warm, natural, and really sensual on feet. They come in lighter colors as well which I think will be important in your low ceiling space. http://www.ecomoso.com/ecodomo-leather-flooring/

Anyway, interesting design challenge. Keep us posted!

I'm a rug collector, so I'm prejudiced, but I agree with Lizzy. Put your money Into the best rugs you an afford, and the floor will go away. I have purchased some stunning handmade rugs from outlets (one-of-a-kind demo designs, retired color ways, custom rugs that were rejected by clients, etc), and I got one for practically nothing at an estate sale. They will stay with me forever.

I see excellent rugs listed on Craigslist, and even Ikea carries some really attractive handmade ones.

You can often find wood laminate floors at habitat for humanity for cheap. They are easy to put down and with a few rugs down don't look horrible. If painting is and option and you like a more modern look I would find some rugs you love and paint the floor to match.

well FLOR is amazing, and actually pretty economical in the clearence section, if you're looking for carpet tiles. they are running a summer sale at the moment on some of the new styles they just released as well, so check that out if you're interested. also, just this past week the spot on the Chilewich floor tiles inspired me to do some research myself. there are a few places that sell discontinued tiles (not the biofelt kind :/) but they can be attached to eachother, and to a floor with doublesided tape, for a pretty cool looking, non perminant solution. plus, they're wonderful green product, and a neat alternative to carpet!

Thanks all.

1- I love the idea of linoleum, but fear it would be costly.
2-Carpet tile ( at least FLOR) seems to be more expensive that remnants.

Sorry if having no photos of the living space was frustrating, but it's basically the same tile only in a bigger space. I never imagined you could (successfully) paint over it. ! How would that work exactly? What paint works over a PVC floor?

My past experience with laminate was about $2.97 a sq/ft without the underlay. The materials alone were about 2K in the end and installation on top of that ( Sorry, not too handy like that)

I grew up in the suburbs with wall to wall carpet so I guess I'm still scarred from that experience. I'm sure there are some great alternatives out there and I truly appreciate everyone's contributions and suggestions.

I would paint it. There are epoxy paints available for painting garage floors (do NOT use the chips they sell in these kits, just use the paint). As long as the space is empty and you allow it to cure for a few days, I think its pretty easy.

If it were me, I would paint a base color first in something neutral and fairly light (a modern cement color, or a french gray). Then if that went well I would consider doing a pattern over it, like a chevron or a stencil in a similar tone, nothing too contrasty that would show the mistakes. Maybe a pale cocoa or a creamy gray. Nothing too gimicky.

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/painted-floors-inspiration-gal-138302

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/painted-floors-inspiration-gal-138302

Cork tiles? I dunno, maybe that's a dumb idea. I don't know how expensive cork is, just that my parents have it in their hallway and it's soft underfoot and looks nice.

There's primer and paint for almost any surface. Go to a good paint store and they will hook you up with the right materials. I agree with it being light. One trick I've learned when you want to add some extra "light" to painted surfaces is add some mica powder or gold dust powder. It gives the same very slight metallic effect as you might see on a newly poured sidewalk. You can even choose what gloss level you might like in paint.

I totally agree with paint, then maybe a stencil border or other effect.

It will be your cheapest and easiest option over tile, carpet, or other flooring options.

i dont think you will be able to paint over the vinyl tile you have, perhaps if you stripped it down to the subfloor you could use benjamin moore floor paint..

skimstone is designed to be used on concrete floors, as are those paints for garage floors.

i would suggest a trip to home depot, there are a number of flexible vinyl flooring options,
such as the wood look ones were already suggested by a previous poster. it is pretty cheap, and easy to diy.

http://www.homedepot.com/webapp/catalog/servlet/Search?storeId=10051&langId=-1&catalogId=10053&keyword=traffic%20master%20allure&Ns=None&Ntpr=1&Ntpc=1&selectedCatgry=SEARCH+ALL

You can do nice carpet (remnant or not, though you will be able to afford nicer quality if you go with the price of a remnant - some stores have really huge remnant rolls - shouldn't be hard to find a piece that will cover your whole apartment), cut to fit your oddly shaped room.

I also hate wall to wall, but if you get good quality carpet (wool, and only wool), it will NOT remind you of the wall to wall you grew up with. It will remind you of a very nice wool rug, only larger so that it goes to the wall and covers your ugly floor.

I would have them come and install it, only not really install it, just cut it to fit. No nailing it down, no nailing down those strips with tacks sticking up to grab the carpet, no glue. Then, you can treat it like an area rug, though it will be cut to fit and cover your whole floor. Yes, use a good rug pad cut to fit underneath. Then you can take it with you when you have, send it out for cleaning like a rug if you don't want to have it cleaned in place, and cut it to fit your next place - even have it bound into a more regular shaped area rug then if you want. If you want the edges bound now, it isn't that expensive, have it done when it is cut to fit.

You can also paint the floor, but a rug gives you a nicer surface to live on. You could always paint and then use area rugs to cover most of the space.

You know that type of flooring that they use on stairs to keep people from slipping? I bought some of that which comes on a big roll and I just taped it down with duct tape. The flooring is silver and the duct tape if silver so it looks good. After about a year the duct tape gets gross and need to be replaced but that's not a big expense or time sucker.

Can the author perhaps throw out a rough budget amount? You mentioned 400sf needing to be covered... You have a budget that you have to meet? Like $600, $1,500, etc...?

What we did is to go to a discount carpet store that sells carpet remnants . Normally remnants are much cheaper than regular carpet and you can buy a big roll. The edge is rough but adding edge (it is called binding) is not very expensive, it is around $100 a piece. We paid around $500 including everything (tax and delivery...) for a big room (400sft), just roll the carpet up, it looks super nice and can be removed easily.

I work at a flooring showroom and carpet is absolutely the least expensive way to go and might be a nice cozy option for a bedroom. Cork might also be a good option and can be floated. Our cork starts at $3.95 per sf. But, everything we do is special order. If you are not real picky about color and pattern you may be able to find it for less in stock somewhere.