Written By Megin Potter  |  Photos by Marisa Dooley

Reclaim. Refresh. Reveal. That’s the formula for creative building and crafting projects in the Pausley house.

In 1995, Colleen and Kevin Pausley bought their first home. These Burnt Hills High School sweethearts had just become newlyweds when at 25 years old, they launched into an enormous renovation project - restoring an 1865 farmhouse and two barns sitting on 30 acres.

“We wanted an old home, loved the character, and dug in,” said Colleen.

The novice remodelers learned through trial and error, and refurbished room-by-room, learning as they went, checking out books from the library, and following the advice of trusted experts featured in episodes of the PBS program, This Old House.

The process, however, was trying on their relationship, and by 2004, the couple divorced. They reconnected not long after, however, and remarried in May 2005.

Home Sweet Farmhouse

With their relationship restored, in 2007, the Pausleys began building a new home. This 3-bedroom, 3.5 bath center hall colonial is where they would raise two children, Anna and Sean, and where they would embark on a uniquely upcycled adventure all their own.

Taking the DIY skills they learned from their first home and applying it to their second, this house is all about family. “I took a new job and a pay cut to be home with our kids, so we really focused on using what we had to make our house a home,” said Colleen.

The Pausleys made a life together by incorporating creative solutions (like using a painted picture frame as a ceiling medallion), super salvages (such as a stellar butcher block table), and sheer manpower (as with the Adirondack-style footbridge crafted from felled trees on their property and in their massive two-story tall central stone fireplace).

Creating Meaning Within Your Means

Recording and sharing these projects on her blog, Life on Kaydeross Creek, Colleen shows how to create a space that speaks to you – while living within your means.

“There’s really nothing you can’t paint,” said Colleen, a SUNY Cortland graduate with a Bachelor’s in Business who works as a healthcare consultant.  She enjoys revamping, decorating, and blogging, on the side, she said, for the opportunities it offers.

“It’s an opportunity to be super creative, to come up with ideas to decorate in unique ways and to make something useful from things others may overlook.” Collecting and remaking heirloom pieces saves money, but she cautions, your home should be a collection of what you love and that takes time. “It’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

Walking into the Pausleys’ home, you’ll see items like antique pulleys used as bookends, candle holders made from lockboxes, and flowers displayed in an old ice bucket. Each item holds special meaning to Colleen.

“These pieces create a unique look and feel to our home.”

Where Goodness Gathers

Welcoming family into their home for the holidays became all that much jollier in 2020 when the Pausleys’ kitchen makeover – and Colleen’s favorite project to date – was complete.

In 2021, Colleen opened a booth in the Ballston Spa Antique Center, at 217 Ballston Avenue, featuring items from her Life on Kaydeross Creek.

“These things are duplicates of what I love most from my own home and what I think others will like,” said Colleen. Constantly rotating the merchandise, Colleen displays different ways to use items including painted dressers, upcycled art, candle holders, and antique stools.

New Be-You-tiful Projects

This season, on the Life on Kaydeross Creek blog, earth tones, including gratifying greens, continue to be big, as is adding character with wood wainscotting, and installing electric lights without unsightly wires.

In addition to being a contributor to Simply Saratoga magazine, Colleen’s work has been featured on HGTV.com, The Huffington Post, and HouseBeautiful.com.

On the Life on Kaydeross Creek website you can also find Colleen’s brand new Be-You-tiful Interiors eBook, featuring different ways to make your home beautifully your own with thrifted finds, furniture flips and DIY projects.

This fall, look for her in Country Sampler Farmhouse magazine. For updates, follow Life on Kaydeross Creek on Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, and at https://mylifeonkayderosscreek.com