Laminate, linoleum, wood, bamboo, cork, just not carpet.

Here is a link that might be useful: Options

This isn't much help but I've used the peel and stick vinyl tiles with good results. I put them in a rent house bathroom almost 5 years ago and they have held up great.

Ceramic tile or marble tile is all I'll use in a bathroom. It's not expensive. Last forever. Looks GREAT!

It sounds like a lot of trouble to take out the toilet, stuff a rag in it and reset it, but it's worth it. I also like adding a matching base trim about 4" high in the matching tile. I like using 1/4 bleach and water mixture to clean bathroom floors and kitchen floors. So tile is the only thing that will hold up to this type of cleaning....

Here's a powder room floor DH installed for me....cutting a border. The ceramic tiles were .79cents ea....

How long has it been since you looked at vinyl? It's come a long way in a short time!

I too vote for ceramic tile. It will hold up to the moisture and any water leaks. There are many tiles that are very reasonably priced.

When we gutted and re-did the bathroom I used a sheet vinyl flooring thinking it would be easier to clean. Everyone was telling me "no tile; it's cold."

I installed a wonderful Kolhler toilet (Kathryn) and porcelain-over-steel tub (Villager), a CraftMaid standard-height cabinet, Silestone countertop with undermounted porcelain sink, custom built mirrors/medicine cabinets, etc. Now the sheet vinyl looks terrible against all the "good stuff."

I'm planning to have a matt-finish porcelain tile floor put down next summer, even though the toilet will have to be pulled.

The brown cabinet it temporary; this photo was taken before the room was finished, but it shows the vinyl floor.

you can do a Penny floor. Check out you tube for instructions.

Personally, I use a towel. I goes into the laundry once a week and all is done.

Jim

Anything except carpet for the bathroom and definitely a heated floor.

Thank you for all of the ideas!

I hate the cold/hard feel of ceramic tile floors and the acoustics it creates in any room! I'd go with vinyl or laminate wood.

I've just had Porcelain tile installed on the floor and part way up the walls of my guest bathroom, and on the floor and walls of my stall shower in the master bath. This kind of tile is much more durable than ceramic, does not chip easily like ceramic and does not show the grout like ceramic. It's called rectified porcelain.

We just put in LVT, Luxury Vinyl Tile, in our kitchen, 3 bathrooms and ldy room. Love it, vey nice gray color. It has a look almost of concret. They are 18"x36~~we had them installed off set in the kitchen beacause it is bigger and the rest of the rooms were just done regular set, becaus the rooms are small and off set would not have fit well. I love it! Feels comfy on our feet uber easy to clean~~no grout

In addition to the other good comments, I think you should also consider that this somewhat depends on the house and the neighborhood. In a modest house, vinyl or other sheet flooring is probably fine. It's most certainly economical to install. In a more upscale house, putting in anything other than ceramic tile is probably a mistake. We have a fair amount of tile in our house and we don't find the floors to be uncomfortable in the winter.

To my thinking, both carpeting and wood of any kind (including laminates) are poor choices for a bathroom. Bathroom floors get wet, sometimes very wet. Using products put down in pieces that contain wood, or that would allow water to seep to the subfloor, will result in damage.

Joann, I love that penny floor. I wish I had a powder room, I would be tempted to try it. As it is, we are going with ceramic tile.

Snidely is wise. I was all ready to tile a kitchen floor in a previous home when I spoke to my neighbor who is a Realtor. She said our homes (1950's subdivision) didn't warrant it. I used sheet vinyl. (TODAY, most of those houses do have tile, but she was correct at the time.)

We have underfloor heat and porcelain tile with colored grout. I would lay the tile on the diagonal right to the walls to visually enlarge the room.

Caroline -- I think your floor looks great. You must see something 'in person' that I can't see in the picture.

First, bathroom floors will see water from splashes and wet feet. The prime requirement is that it must be resistant to water and soaps. This elimates many laminates since many of these will swell and buckle when exposed to water. Also, unsealed seams must be avoided. Water will penetrate these and rot the underfloor and promote lifting of the top flooring. In my opinion, carpeting is out. If you must have a furry feeling underfoot, use a bathroom rug/mat that can be taken out and laundered on a regular basis. It should have a non-skid back.