About Us

The Cotton Cloud Story

Cotton Cloud Futons was founded in 1981 by Terri Treat who was 17 years old at the time. Inspired by her parents to start on a journey that, many years later, is a thriving business still going stronger than ever.

Terri describes her mom as a Do-It-Yourself type of woman. She was also the single mother of two kids, and had to get inventive to make ends meet. Her dad was also very creative and encouraged her to think outside of the box.

Cotton Cloud has always been a labor of love. Terri says, "Ever since I can remember, I have had a very close connection to nature, and a deep respect for the planet with which we’ve all been entrusted. By chance, I took a class on futon-making, and from that moment on, it was clear to me that making beds out of cotton provided the perfect synergy of art, craft, and mindfulness for the Earth. At first, I was living in a little farm house out in the woods, making covers on a treadle sewing machine and building each mattress by hand. The whole experience was very zen, and it gave me the chance to brainstorm and try different combinations of materials and construction methods."

Her initial clients were her family and friends. Soon her neighbor, who was a wood worker, built Cotton Cloud’s first tri-fold frame. Terri started selling the frames and futons at Portland's Saturday Market and in those days, she delivered each mattress by herself, on the city bus!

Soon she needed a more central and expansive house and moved to E. Burnside where she made the futons in the basement and sold them out of a little store front attached to the house.

Cotton Cloud Futons @ 1916 NE Broadway

 

Eventually Cotton Cloud outgrew the house on Burnside and expanded to a storefront on NE Broadway. This larger showroom and production space enabled product expansion and offerings. The store became a fun and funky place to shop not just for futons, frames, and covers, but also for furniture and accessories that you would be hard-pressed to find anywhere else.

13 years later, Cotton Cloud moved into yet another larger space at 701 NE Broadway. Shortly after moving into this great new space, production was moved to a separate warehouse. The current expansive showroom has beautiful displays of bed frames, futons, natural mattresses and bedding and more.

The shopping experience remains unique where everyone who visits the store immediately feels at home and the associates are there to share their industry knowledge and are known for superior customer service.

Cotton Cloud's commitment to the planet and close connection to the community are still as strong as ever. "Cotton Cloud has grown up here in Portland, Oregon, and I’m so thankful for the local community of friends, family, customers, and artisans who have helped us thrive all these years. I’m proud to say that Cotton Cloud Futons strives to work in synergy with our earth by selling comfortable, functional, affordable futons, furniture, and accessories. We consciously emphasize products that are made of natural materials, with renewable resources that are harvested in sustainable ways. I look forward to continuing this work, and making these connections, for many years to come," Terri says.

 

Why shop at Cotton Cloud Natural Beds and Furniture?

We believe that there are many great things that set us apart from others and we are committed to offering natural, sustainable and organic mattresses and furniture to the Portland community and beyond.

  • We understand the importance of supporting our local economy and source all of our raw materials from Oregon when possible and most of our furniture is made in the USA.

  • We have spent a considerable amount of time researching and testing natural, organic and sustainable products so that you don't have to.

  • Our store has a peaceful feel with muted lighting where you can come dressed in your pajamas and try out any of our mattresses on our showroom and we won't bother you unless you have questions, although, we may have to wake you up around closing time. ;)

  • Between our manufacturing facility and our showroom, we provide jobs for over 30 of our fellow Portlanders. We do not outsource.

  • We are female owned and have a supportive, diverse environment where our employees can truly shine. We believe that happy employees equals happy customers.

  • Our handcrafted mattresses don't have the perfected look of one off of an assembly line, but each one is made by a real person with care.

  • We manufacture the mattresses here, in Portland, OR and offer factory direct prices.  We prefer to offer quality products at affordable prices instead of inflating our prices just to mark them down for big sales.

  • We actually care about you and will go out of our way to make you happy and take care of any issues. We won't try to sell you products that you don't need or convince you to buy something out of your price range.

  • We enjoy giving back to our community and donate to many various organizations and often hold book drives and food drives.

  • There is only one Cotton Cloud store in existence and we have built a solid reputation with thousands of happy customers in the past 40 years.


Our Showroom

We encourage everyone interested in a natural or organic sofa or bed to visit our beautiful showroom at 701 NE Broadway. It is designed to provide a relaxing environment where you can take your time and find the perfect bed or couch. We have what you need, including complete bedroom sets, natural mattresses, futon frames in a range of sizes from Queen couches to chairs, handmade futons, tables, and case goods. In addition, we stock pillows, comforters, and the largest selection of futon covers in the Portland area.

We have been handcrafting our own futons and mattresses since 1981. This allows us to to provide high quality futon mattresses at affordable prices. We consciously emphasize selling products that are made of natural or organic materials and renewable resources and that are harvested in a sustainable way.

With our e-commerce website, you can securely make your purchase on line.  If you live outside of our local area, we can ship to any home or business in the 48 States.

However you choose to purchase from us, you can rest assured that you will receive the superlative customer service that you have come to expect from Cotton Cloud Natural Beds and Furniture.

 

 

Cotton Clouds Commitment To Our Environment

Cotton Cloud Natural Beds and Furniture commitment to the environment started with it's inception in 1981. Cotton Cloud was started with the simple idea of hand crafting futon mattresses of the highest quality using natural, renewable materials. As Cotton Cloud has grown so has the variety of merchandise we sell.

Cotton Cloud Natural Beds and Furniture continues to consciously emphasize selling products that are made of natural materials, made with renewable resources and that are harvested in an sustainable way. When making concessions we always weigh the advantages and disadvantages of the products we are selling.

For instance when we began adding foam cores to our futons to increase their comfort and longevity we chose to use only high density foam. We viewed adding foam to our futon mattresses a concession, but high density foam in our experience doesn't break down over time. In fact we have re-layered futons we made over ten years ago and the foam is still holding up. Below are ways we are attempting to be considerate citizens of the earth.

  • We have reduced our waste stream through recycling and composting.
  • Cotton Cloud Natural Beds and Furniture makes a conscious effort to sell products made from renewable resources and that are harvested in an sustainable way.
  • We offer organic cotton, wool and 100% organic latex products
  • The majority of futon frames we sell are made using rubber wood. Rubber wood is plantation grown and only harvested after it's finished being used as a source for Latex.

 


Cotton Clouds Commitment To Our Community

  Cotton Cloud Natural Beds and Furniture has grown up in Portland Oregon and we are very thankful for the local community of friends, family, customers and artisans who have helped us thrive all these years.

Cotton Cloud Natural Beds and Furniture strives to work in synergy with our earth by selling comfortable, functional, affordable futons, furniture & accessories. We consciously emphasize selling products that are made of natural materials, made with renewable resources and that are harvested in a sustainable way. We look forward to continuing this work, and making these connections, for many years to come.

As a token of our appreciation we donate to local fundraising efforts and organizations, work with local small businesses, and support community organizations that we think help make Portland a wonderful place to live.

Donations we've made include:

  • Grant High Booster Club
  • Portland Store Fixtures
  • Black Lives Matter
  • Portland Food Project
  • Multiple Portland Public Schools
  • Mercury Gift Guide
  • Sustainable Off the Grid Living
  • In Other Words

Local businesses we've worked with include:

  • Green Burial (Eugene, OR)
  • Greenwomanstore.com
  • Flying Stag Lodge
  • College of Oriental Medicine
  • Bradley Angle House
  • Community Warehouse
  • Alchemy Salon
  • Bizzy B Seven
  • No Bones About It doggy daycare
  • Troutdale Abby
  • Spa Sasse
  • Horn of Africa
  • Levy Chiropractor

Community Support:
5% Off Bring in your current membership card with any of these organizations for 5% off your total sale. Not valid with other discounts or coupons.

KBOO Community Radio
http://www.kboo.org/
"Volunteer-Powered, Non-Commercial, Listener-Sponsored, Full-Strength Community Radio for Portland, Oregon, Cascadia & the World!"

People's Coop
http://www.peoples.coop/
People’s is a community-owned, full line natural foods store. Because People’s is owned by the community & not by an individual, we can genuinely focus first on our customers & the services that we provide for them, not on the profit we make from them.

Alberta Co-Operative Grocery
http://www.albertagrocery.coop
Alberta Co-Operative Grocery The Alberta Cooperative Grocery is a community-owned store located in the vibrant Alberta Arts District in Portland, Oregon.

Bicycle Transportation Alliance
http://www.bta4bikes.org/
The Bicycle Transportation Alliance (BTA) is a non-profit membership organization working to promote bicycling and improve bicycling conditions in Oregon and SW Washington.