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Design | Products | Countertops | Cabinetry | Hardware | Staff
Design Co-owner Neil Oakes is the heart and soul of the Oakes Brother Kitchen and Bath Design Department. His reputation for honesty, kitchen design expertise, and customer satisfaction has built a loyal following among contractors and homeowners. Neil and his staff of professional designers offer custom kitchen design services. Whether you’re renovating, making minor changes, or building new, they will visit your home at no charge and take measurements on-site, consult with you, your architect, engineer, designer, or builder, and work with you through the entire process, from blueprints to final coat of paint, to be sure you get the kitchen or bath you’ve dreamed about. Neil began designing kitchens and baths in the early 1980s, when the industry was in its infancy. At that time customers had little to do with personalizing their own kitchens. Manufacturers had not developed many options for cabinets, fixtures, and appliances, and contractors generally decided how kitchens would be laid-out based on available space. Today, kitchen and bath design at Oakes Brothers is an art, and the customer is an integral part of the design process. As customers have become more sophisticated, Oakes Brothers’ Kitchen and Bath Design has stayed on the cutting edge of services and products. Neil was initially one of the few designers in the Connecticut River Valley to use 2020 Design and other computer-aided design programs. He and his staff create fully rendered elevation and perspective drawings of kitchens, complete with color and texture changes to illustrate customer choices. The company’s kitchen and bath product line is constantly evaluated, and new, improved cabinets, sinks and fixtures, countertops and other products are introduced as they become available. Oakes Brothers once built its own custom wood cabinets, but they soon found that specialty cabinetmakers in the Midwest offered cabinets of equal quality with a greater variety of furniture styles, options, wood species and fine finishes, with good customer service and lower prices. Oakes Brothers now buys cabinets from a select group of these cabinetmakers who have passed Neil’s rigorous evaluation process for excellence. “It’s been an evolution,” said Neil. “The new cabinets and other kitchen products available today are much better than what we sold in the 1980s.”
Natural Surfaces Solid Surface
Lighting Plumbing
Matt started in the kitchen and bath industry whle he was still in high school where he worked for Aldrich Formica Center as a fabricator of laminate countertops. From there, he moved into solid surface, granite, and quartz countertop production for Creative Counters and later Vermont Solid Surface, Inc. At both companies, Matt worked in various aspects of countertop production, from template to fabrication to installation. After four years in the countertop production field, Matt decided to make the move into the kitchen and bath design industry. He joined Oakes' Brothers in the fall of 2006 as a kitchen/bath designer and hasn't looked back. With a good foundation built from several years in the countertop andn custom home building industries, and after nearly two years as a designer, Matt has greatly expanded his knowledge of kitchen and bath design. "I enjoy talking to homeowners about this new kitchen or bath project. Whether they are remodeling or building new, there are many tough, complicated decisions to be made. My job is to hold their hand and educate them so that they can make the best possible decisions for their lifestyle and family," Matt says.
Neil is a founding co-owner of Oakes Brothers, Inc. He began designing kitchens and baths in the early 1980s. Initially he designed custom kitchen cabinets built on-site at Oakes; his expertise, skill, and knowledge grew as the industry, and as his customers, became more sophisticated and more demanding. He was one of the first kitchen designers in the Connecticut River Valley to begin using 2020 Design computer software, and he often tests other new software programs to consider them for his department. “I don’t sell kitchens just to sell kitchens,” Neil says. “I only sell products that I would have in my own house. Actually, I DO have Candlelight Cabinets in my own home. They are solid wood and beautifully made, and they will last for decades.” “My biggest focus is always to listen to the customer,” Neil says. “Some of my best kitchens have come from the customer’s idea, something I might never even have thought of myself, even after all these years in the business.”
Greg is one of Oakes’ most experienced designers and building professionals. He has spent 14 years in kitchen design, and a total of 29 years working in all aspects of running a home building and supply center. During that time he trained in mechanical drawing. Greg knows kitchen and home design from the ground up; he started in 1979 by stocking the shelves of a home building center and moved his way up through the industry, becoming an expert in estimating projects like additions, decks, garages and then complete homes. He managed the lumber side of that business for 14 years. He became interested in kitchen and bath design in 1994, became proficient in computer-aided design, and eventually ran his own successful design business, Johnson’s Cabinetry Center, in West Lebanon, for eight years. “What I like the most is helping homeowners design one of the most enjoyable rooms in their home,” Greg says. “The kitchen is the gathering place when company comes. There is nothing better than creating a beautiful and functional space for a family … I love seeing the joy on the customer’s face when the work is all done and they are thankful for my help. I think my patience and willingness to add my experience to the customer’s project is what helps me win their trust.”
Visit the Oakes Brothers Photo Gallery
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Matthew Longley
Neil Oakes
Greg Walker
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