I have the same problem only the floor is ugly, old sheet vinyl. Any suggestions for me too? I was considering Eco Sources' Rubber tiles. Any thoughts?

I'm going to go ahead and recommend Flor tiles here. I know people will take issue with carpet in the bathroom, but it could look really awesome. You can cut them to fit your floor exactly AND they are easy to remove.

http://www.florcatalog.com

I once Astroturfed a bathroom. Gave it sort of a Brian Murphy look.

I had a rental kitchen with awful floors once and we taped together pieces of poster board (some plastic would work better for a bathroom) and then cut the whole thing to size to cover the floor wall to wall. We then put the peel and stick tiles over that. Since it was cut to fit the whole room and the tiles had enough weight to them it laid flat and you never knew it wasn't fully installed.

I'd also recommend FLOR tiles - the 'toy poodle' line is meant for bathrooms/wet areas.

Thanks for all the ideas so far! I think I'm going to look into the Flor and also the rubber options. Just staring at the brown grout everyday is painful. =)

~Mary

buy a sheet of linoleum and cut it to size (or maybe use a paper template)

Thanks, Lisa. I checked out the Miyo flooring and we've ordered some samples. Looks simple enough and at a great price. When all is said and done we'll send you pictures of the update!

~Mary

We had a similar situation in an old apartment, but worse. It was lovely mustard yellow vinyl tile with odd flowers on them. So 70s but in a very bad way I was finishing up school and we would be moving in a year.
We used rubber matting from an fitness supply co. The type that goes in a fitness center weight area. It was fairly cheap and came in a wide range of colors. We order a sheet slightly bigger than what we needed cut it to size and caulked around the edges. It worked great. Was antimicrobial, easy to clean and felt cushy under your feet. When we moved out we pulled it up and there was no mold underneath. We actually used to help cushion things when we were packing up!

snap deck makes a line of interlocking tiles both wood and ceramic that can be installed and removed easily.

I have a set of 76 that I have moved from the front porch to the back deck then back again....look great and easy to maintain.

I suggest a sisel rug, and whatever space isn't covered by the rug uses smooth river rock to fill in - beautiful, practice, cost efficient and as temporary or permanent of a solution as you'd like..

Re-grout it. It's so easy - we did this in our old bathroom. All you have to do is just scrape out the old grout because it's probably old enough to just flake off. Then just regrout with white and it's almost like a new floor. Another option is to use a grout pen, which is a special device used to change dark grout to light. Trust me, it really works! Good luck!

I second the suggestion to re-grout. Head to Home Depot for advice and supplies, and that is an easy makeover. Since the space is small, it won't take that long either.

Or just put a bigger rug over it... the space looks big enough for a 3x5 or 4x6? rug... that will cover the majority of the floor nicely. You can add color, texture or other elements via the rug; and you can find throw rugs that are cute and very inexpensive many places.

My bathroom setup is identical to yours as far as sink/vanity, toilet and tub placement. I put a 3x5' rug in sea colors to hide the yellowish vinyl sheet flooring, instant makeover.

My mate's having the same problem at the moment. He owns his joint but can't afford much. He's dealing with jigsaw-like tiles. 4 different shapes that interlock and the worst part... they are each a different shade of lavender... he's painted the rest of his lavender room (the walls, the vanity, the sink, bathtub, shower) but the tiles on the floor are harder to work with because they have a weird patterned texture on them... suggestions that are more permanent very welcome!