Neisha Crosland's vinyl floor tiles

Vinyl flooring has been getting better and more interesting in recent years – and is a brilliantly affordable way to get yourself a stylish floor. I have my whole ground floor done in dark grey vinyl, which I love (though it's not quite as good at hiding muddy dog paw prints as I'd hoped...). 

Now the textile designer, Neisha Crosland, has brought out a range which is on sale at John Lewis.

It looks just like old-school ceramic floor tiles, doesn't it? Except you won't break your cereal bowl if you drop it in an early morning daze on this flooring, which costs just £47.89 for 12 tiles (seen individually, below) at John Lewis.

"A painted floor in an old house inspired this Celtic Cross design" says Crosland. "I think it works very well as an alternative to a chequerboard pattern." The tiles come in Charcoal, Sage, Stone or Turquoise. They are available from next month at Harvey Maria. Understated and classy.

From my own experience, vinyl flooring is excellently practical but I wouldn't advise trying to fit it yourself. It shows the tiniest bumps on whatever's underneath it (including joins between MDF boards), so needs very careful preparation of the existing floor to look slick. It can also be more fragile than one would expect and can tear; but only if you drag, say, kitchen appliances across it. Until I had mine fitted, I didn't know you could also get colour-matched caulk, or silicone filler (which may mean nothing if you are not a DIY nerd like me) to give the edges the tidiest finish. A good idea.

Above, an example of Neisha Crosland's more traditional tile designs – these vibrant beauties are the Haveli collection.

Above, clockwise from left Find alternative vinyl flooring also worth checking out from: The Colour Flooring Company, who sell a range of gorgeous vibrant colours in sheet vinyl form, Zazous, which also supplies Victorian-reminiscent patterns and Cath Kidston, whose trademark florals as well as her cowboy print and different coloured dotty designs now come in floor tiles. 

Style spotlight: Candypop

I stumbled across the colourful Candypop via the wonderful world of Twitter:  I follow Cath Kidston, she follows Cath Kidston. CK reTweeted Candypop's link to photos of her Kidston-esque kitchen (it's quite a homage...).

So I checked Candypop out and discovered that not only does she fill her kitchen with kitschenalia, florals and heaps of colour, she also blogs about her inspirations (which include the super cute shop-window in Paris, above).

She also sells simple and sweet photos as greetings cards or posters at Candypopimages.com, like the one above, and is a prolific photo-poster: check out her Flickr stream - it's the interiors equivalent of a sweet shop. Loving your work CP.

Fantastic vintage fabric

Who knew this stylish fabric store existed? Fancymoon.co.uk may have a rather odd name, but its selection of fabrics, both vintage and new, is lovely. I stumbled across this vintage 'Carribbean Vignette' design while looking for cushions/covers for my kitchen bench. It's totally not right, but I love it... and will now try to find somewhere else it might fit. I also don't need the 'Cowboy Vignette' fabric (£10.99 per metre), which is in the same vein as the Wild West-themed Cath Kidston print... but I'm working hard to find a reason to.