Why We Finally Ditched Our Old Mattress for Floyd

I’m married to a man who hates novelty. Where I work my way through a restaurant’s menu, he’ll order the same reliable favorite every time. When we take a road trip, he wants to return to the same campgrounds we’ve enjoyed before, while I push to try out a new spot.

But getting older has a way of making novelty a requirement. Case in point: Buying a mattress. Like so many 30-somethings (especially those employed in the arts), neither of us had ever owned a brand-new mattress. We’d slept our way through college and single years on a series of beds inherited from family members, roommates moving out, and yes, on one occasion, a curbside find. (I was 24, broke as hell, and didn’t know any better, okay?)

We might have gone on like this for another 10 years if it hadn’t been for the introduction of a baby into our lives. If you haven’t heard, having your first kid changes your relationship with sleep in a major way. We went from being people who could happily crash on a futon, a lumpy couch, or even the floor to real sleep divas, fierce in our demands for anything that could help us make the most of the scant hours allotted for our rest.

Luckily, that was the moment when Detroit furniture maker Floyd decided to drop a mattress.

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Launched in 2014 with a single table leg, Floyd has expanded over the past five years into a full slate of furniture, cleverly crafted to provide high-quality fashion and function in all of the 5 to 10 homes an average millennial will inhabit over the course of their working years. A breakout star of their catalog is the Floyd Bed, with its creamy birch wood panels, low-riding minimalist aesthetic, and ingenious tool-free setup that easily expands into bigger bed sizes as your lifestyle (and relationship status) require. But fast on the heels of the bed’s success came an outcry from Floyd fans: “Where’s the Floyd Mattress?”

Mattresses represent a big piece of the online brand pie, with all sorts of brands competing for key features like comfort and construction, eco-friendly materials, and of course the coveted “unboxing” experience. Frankly, as fun as it is to watch something expand from its compressed casing like one of those magic capsule sponges that we played with in the bathtub as kids, we much prefer a mattress that invites (and supports) an instant belly flop. Under that test, the Floyd Mattress performed like a dream. Sturdy without being stiff, soft without too much give, its sensory invitation to stay awhile is nearly impossible to resist.

Firmness: “Firmness” ratings for mattresses are largely hogwash — the mattress brands actually make and rate their product themselves. The proof is in the snuggling. The Floyd Mattress at first comes off as being way at the end of the sturdy spectrum, but settling into your prone position reveals just the right amount of give. We like a mattress that doesn’t yield too easily.
Interior construction: The Floyd Mattress is a hybrid mattress, meaning it contains both springs and foam. The top layer is open cell memory foam infused with copper and graphite to dissipate heat and relieve pressure points. Underneath, more than 1,000 steel coils flex to contour and support your body, with a layer of transition foam to stabilize the coils (so your mattress doesn’t end up with “soft spots” or saggy corners) and reduce motion transfer. The result is a night of deep, relaxing sleep, no matter how much you or your bedfellow thrashes around.
Eco-friendliness: While not certified organic like some mattresses on the market, Floyd does a creditable job of keeping its nose clean. All the foams within this mattress meet CertiPUR-US program standards for content, emissions, and durability, meaning they’re free of phthalates, ozone depleters, flame retardants, and heavy metals. As a result, the usual “off-gassing” required for new mattresses is practically unnecessary — the Floyd Mattress’ emissions are ridiculously low VOC (less than 0.5 parts per million). We noticed a faint odor the first night of sleeping on the mattress, but by the next evening, it was completely gone.
Thickness: The Floyd Mattress’ 10-inch height strikes a great balance — even on a low-profile bed like the Floyd Platform, it rises to a comfortable elevation.
Cost: Priced at roughly the same point as an old-school spring mattress, the Floyd Mattress gives you the deliciously naughty feels of a splurge without actually being one.

As you explore the Floyd universe, with its sleek Danish modern-adjacent looks and mobile-friendly design, it’s easy to miss a central tenet of the company’s ethos. In fact, one of Floyd’s founding goals was to curb disposability culture. Unlike other furniture companies that barrage consumers with new product collections in an effort to keep their corner of the market, Floyd has concentrated its efforts on introducing one heritage-quality, user-friendly piece at a time. Like the Floyd Sofa, Table, and other companion products, the Floyd Mattress is designed to last for the long haul. Not only will it stand up to decades of use (backed by a 10-year warranty), but its thoughtful construction ensures that no nagging design flaws will cause its charm to fade. From its ultra-breathable Tencel top to its nonslip bottom cover (especially crucial for a platform bed), the Floyd Mattress is definitely worth hauling across the country or up the stairs to your sixth-floor loft.

It’s been a month since our Floyd Mattress showed up, and we are still over the moon about it. In fact, my novelty-resistant husband says almost every night as we tuck in, “I really like our new bed.” Given that it might be the last mattress we ever have to buy, what’s not to like?

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