Beryl Johnson, Kansas City
Why she’s a stylemaker: She successfully broke all the rules for displaying photographs.
The display: In shelter magazines, interior designers say personal photographs should be reserved for private spaces such as bedrooms and home offices, or at least hallways. However, Johnson created a focal point of framed photographs of her family and friends by displaying them on a round glass table in her elegant Crossroads Art District condo.
Designers say to use similarly finished frames for a cohesive look. Johnson also ignored that rule, using black wood, silver and gold metal and raspberry felt frames.
And designers say to edit the number of framed pictures on a surface so it doesn’t look cluttered. But Johnson has more than a dozen photos on the table.
“I didn’t think about the rules,” says Johnson, a regional corporate trainer for a private mortgage insurance company. “You don’t always have to be by the book.”
Johnson’s display works because all personal photographs are concentrated in one spot. The myriad frame styles complement the rich colors and various textures in her open living room and kitchen. And the many frames work because the table is the right size to support it.
The backstory: Johnson calls the display a memory table. “It’s like a photo album that’s open all the time,” she says. “There are color and black-and-white photos and old and new. It’s a place where I can talk to my family.” The display includes a formal black-and-white portrait of her grandmother, Corean Ellison; snapshots of friends from her native West Palm Beach, Fla.; and pictures of Johnson at various stages, including a school picture she drew on when she was a child. Adding to the mix is a picture of Johnson’s Pekingese, Bella, with Santa Claus.