I think "luxury vinyl" is quite practicable, affordable and can be lovely. It's just a design stigma that is a bit "snobby" in my opinion. We tend to think "OH MY..I won't have a plastic floor!!" However, vinyl has come a long way from the old days. I predict vinyl will be a new "trend" soon.

They make some beautiful vinyl wood plank flooring that when installed looks amazing.

I also would do vinyl plank instead of sheet vinyl.

Vinyl in bedrooms? No.

And fake wood planks look exactly like they are--fake, like the fake tiles that much vinyl sheet goods tries to imitate.

I put Tarkett in my kitchen 12 years ago and it still looks great. It's just a plain, faintly speckled pattern--no fake tiles, just an expanse of slightly variegated tan and a bit of blue, a lot like your photo above. But in a bedroom? No.

Thanks for comments! It's like an odd series of very small rooms that
Im going to redo the floor for. There's a depressing 30
year old vinyl sheet currently present, though it's still in nearly
flawless condition which I find quite impressive(it's survived kids,
dogs, lots of moisture and heavy furniture being moved on it).

Ive
considered cork, linoleum and vinyl planks as well. There's just not
going to be a whole lot of floor visible after decor and also I'm
conserned about seams starting to look bad after getting water on them.
It sounds silly but knowing the inhabitants(my dear parents) its going
to get water tracked on it from a shower and water being splashed when
carried outside through the space to water plants in an adjacent garden.
But the whole point on redoing it is aesthetic improvement so I don't
want to do something marginally better looking hah.

Trust me vinyl plank flooring is beautiful especially in your situation with water spillage and such. It's very durable, affordable and looks fantastic.

This is t a great photo of he floor, but we replaced old flooring with the allure vinyl planks from Home Depot throughout the kitchen, living, and dining rooms. A year later we still loved them so installed it through the rest of the house including bedrooms. The seams stay tight, it's waterproof, and virtually indestructible.

Marmoleum may be a better choice than today's sheet vinyl. The matte finish on new sheet vinyl available in my area of the US has a tendency to catch and hold dirt because it is not smooth. Think miniature mountains with valleys and holes to hold dirt and wash water. Good quality thirty year old vinyl had a very smooth clear top layer that was easy to damp mop and go. It was wonderful. The new stuff is a major pain to wash, rinse and dry, especially for light colors.

Agree with Apple pie in regards to marmoleum. We have it in our bathrooms and utility room. It's a great product and its eco friendly as well.

Marmoleum is a great choice! If cost is a factor, sheet vinyl with sealed seams can be installed for 30% less and will perform similarly well in the environment you described. Seams are visible, but subtle. Depending on the age of your parents, the matte finish may provide more traction than smooth alternatives and reduce trip and fall hazards. In a recent installation, following an open house event attended by 30+ people, the floors looked great and required a quick broom to clean. Marmoleum is still our favorite.

... should add, this installation was for a non-profit organization and at a residence that serves folks who have developmental disabilities. Traffic will be high and will demand performance. Photography scheduled for next week and pics will be available on our profile shortly thereafter.

I had the tile removed from two small baths and put in sheet vinyl instead. No regrets. The pattern on mine looks just like some tile I keep seeing in stores everywhere. (Had no idea it had a pattern to mimic tile to it, just liked the design and the tile grout lines weren't on the sample piece I had.) There are a lot of newer vinyl options to choose from and they look a lot better than the old stuff. And much thicker. I also had the tile ripped out of the entryway and put in luxury vinyl tile there. The pattern I selected came in square or rectangular tiles and I selected the square ones. You can have them installed butting right up to each other, no grout line, so it's easier to clean. Some people will snub their noses just because it's vinyl (and not trendy), but a lot have never seen the newer options available. Between the sheet or plank varieties, you've got much better looking choices today.

Funnily enough, I just clicked on today's Houzz story about low-cost lookalikes and there's the exact same vinyl sheet flooring as mine: http://houzz.com/s/m=7/u=L3Bob3Rvcy8zMzQwMDY0L0xha2UtSG9tZS10cmFkaXRpb25hbC1iYXRocm9vbS1vdGhlci1tZXRybw==

Well, the tile in the photo at the top of that story you linked to, swrite, is porcelain, not vinyl. It's Anatolia, Zera pattern. And it's large tiles, not sheet goods.

Here is a photo of vinyl. It comes in a wide variety of styles, nearly any look you'd like.

Well, we know that. We've all seen vinyl tile and sheet goods. That's not the question.