But the sub-floor must be absolutely smooth.

Vinyl flooring, a plastic material, is sold in sheets up to 12 feet wide or as individual 12- or 18-inch-square tiles.  The advantage of sheet vinyl is that it can be installed with bare minimum efforts that are well-suited to do-it-yourself. Vinyl tiles do have a few drawbacks. They have more edges and don't have a felt backing that sets in glue, so they may come loose easier than sheet vinyl. Frequent mopping (like in the kitchen) also tends to soak more water into tiles and the tiny cracks between tiles gather dust and debris that's hard to clean out.