AphroChic: How Black History and Sojourner Truth Inspired a Showhouse Transformation

Next in our interview series for the 2025 Kingston Design Connection Showhouse are designers Jeanine Hays and Bryan Mason of AphroChic. The two have transformed a small transition space into a meaningful library room and patio. They took inspiration from the region’s connection to abolitionist Sojourner Truth, who they were already exploring for their Fall 2025 collection. By designing the space to prompt reflection about the meaning of freedom, they bring an unexpected and thoughtful moment to the Showhouse while highlighting the Black history of upstate, NY.

We caught up with Jeanine and Bryan in our exclusive interview below. These dynamic designers also have a robust multi-media offering beyond interior design, including books, a lifestyle magazine, products, services, music, podcasts and more across the Black Diaspora. Dive in with us below to learn more about Jeanine and Bryan, AphroChic, their collaborations and brand offerings.

The 2025 Kingston Design Showhouse
October 10–26, 2025 | Tickets are $38 and on sale HERE.

INSIDE+OUT: We’re so excited to feature you both at this year’s Kingston Design Showhouse! Tell us about the house.  What were your initial thoughts, your first impression?

Jeanine Hays: It’s a beautiful home, and we were really impressed when we learned about its age and the level of renovation that went into bringing it to its current form. Furthermore, we were inspired by Kingston’s history, particularly that of Sojourner Truth, who became the focal point of our room. She was already a figure we were focused on as we were creating our Fall 2025 collection for AphroChic Home, but we didn’t know just how close we were to where she had lived so much of her life. The collection, titled “To Be Free,” invites us to examine and even reimagine what it means to be free by exploring various figures in Black history from around the world and the unique expressions of freedom they brought to the world.

Bryan Mason: There’s often not a lot said about the Black history of upstate New York. We didn’t know much ourselves at the start of this project. But after our first visit to the house, we took a wrong turn and found ourselves at the Sojourner Truth statue, not too far away from the showhouse. It really got us thinking about what this space could be and what we wanted to do with it. Because it’s one of the home’s smaller rooms, it was presented to us as simply a transition space between the house and the outdoor area. But we felt that with a little love, it could become something really interesting and be a very unexpected moment for this showhouse.

You’re working on the Library Room + Patio.  Describe your individual creative processes. How do you both collaborate?

Jeanine Hays: We’ve been together for so long, and do so much together, that I feel like our style really evolved out of us working together. We’re constantly going back and forth on everything, whether it’s writing our magazine or designing new pieces for AphroChic Home. So it’s less a blending of two styles and more one style with two parts.

Bryan Mason: Our approaches are also just naturally complementary. Jeanine’s very visual. I’m a bit more abstract. So we’re always looking at things from different perspectives that work really well to fill each other in – making every element work narratively as well as aesthetically. It also probably helps that I had a really good design teacher. Everything I know about it I learned from Jeanine.

What is your favorite part of the Library room design? What inspired each of you?

Jeanine Hays: I love the color. It plays a huge role in establishing the mood of the library. Working with Benjamin Moore Paint, we selected two distinct colors: Cinnamon Slate and Black Beauty. Cinnamon Slate is a warm, brownish-plum shade that Benjamin Moore named its Color of the Year for 2025. We used it to create a sense of warmth and comfort that envelops the room as it contrasts with the wood tones of the shelving and echoes the purples of the rug. It looks very modern but feels timeless.

Bryan Mason: I love the books. There’s something special about having a library at home, especially one that tells such an important story. For the To Be Free Library, for the collection, and for us as a brand, we must consider what we really mean when we talk about freedom – that it’s not something that can be given or taken, won or lost. Freedom is an inseparable quality of humanity, as Sojourner Truth proves, and every book in our library attests. If freedom could be taken, many of those books would not have been written, especially Sojourner Truth’s biography. If freedom could truly be taken, then she and so many other enslaved people would never have attempted escape, much less succeeded.

What was the collaboration experience like with Kingston Design Connection?

Jeanine Hays: We had incredible partners in creating this space. Kingston Design Connection partnered with California Closets Upstate New York, which is a sponsor at this year’s showhouse, to create the built-in architecture of the room. The California Closets team measured the space, created a 3D digital model of our vision, and developed custom shelving that maximizes functionality while elevating the aesthetic. For the library patio, we partnered with Ken Landauer of FN Furniture, another local partnership created through Kingston Design Connection. Ken supplied several of his innovative and amazingly comfortable outdoor benches and rocking chairs. All of our partnerships were wonderful.

Bryan Mason: To build the library, we partnered with major publishers including Penguin Random House, Simon & Schuster, and Rizzoli, curating a wide-ranging collection of Black-authored books. The books lining the shelves include children’s literature, educational texts, art, history, and more, representing voices from across the African Diaspora. It was a pleasure working with all of them.

Tell us about your design business. Who are your clients and how do they find you?

Jeanine Hays: AphroChic Home is one of the fastest-growing furniture and decor brands in the country. We work with artists and artisans from around the world to create pieces for the home that have a narrative as well as an aesthetic value. In addition, we offer design consultation as well as art and book curation through our website. Our clients frequently find us on Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and other social media. On every platform, our handle is @AphroChic. But a lot of people also find us by coming directly to our site.

Bryan Mason: One reason for that is that AphroChic is a tree with a lot of branches. In addition to AphroChic Home, we also publish AphroChic Magazine, a quarterly lifestyle magazine that covers everything from design and fashion to politics and wellness, all through the lens of African Diaspora culture. We also have AphroChic TV, which holds a variety of video content, including our live interview series, An Evening with AphroChic, where we’ve interviewed authors such as Kleaver Cruz of The Black Joy Project, and Rebecca Walker, noted author and scholar, and daughter of The Color Purple author, Alice Walker. It also hosts our new music series, Sounds Sessions. Everything we do, from home furnishings to editorial and live music and interviews, can be found at aphrochic.com.

You also have several books in publication. Tell us about them.

Jeanine Hays: We wrote our first book, REMIX: Decorating with Culture, Objects and Soul, in 2013. At the time, it was the first book in 10 years to look at design from a Black perspective, and one of the very first to suggest a specifically African American approach to design. It also took a step away from thinking of design as a luxury pastime and more as a story – a reflection of the people who make up a home. In it, we break design down into elements and explore how each one can be used to bring culture and history – personal, familial, or community – into a home.

Bryan Mason: Our most recent book is APHROCHIC: Celebrating the Legacy of the Black Family Home. It picks up where REMIX leaves off, going deeper into the role and meaning of design as a cultural artifact for Black Americans, and exploring the history, obstacles, and triumphs of what we call the “Journey to Home,” for African Americans, which began before America was a nation and continues on today.

Library photos courtesy of Phil Mansfield. All other images furnished by AphroChic.

Follow/Connect with AphroChic via Website | Instagram | Threads | Facebook I Spotify

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The 2025 Kingston Design Showhouse | October 10-26, 2025
721 Second Avenue, Kingston, NY.
Open to the public weekends only
Details, hours and tickets HERE | $38.00 per individual

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About Kingston Design Showhouse

Since 2022, proceeds from the showhouse benefits KDC’s programs with Ulster Habitat for Humanity, including the annual Kingston Design Habitat House produced each year in a newly-built Habitat for Humanity home. To learn more, visit https://www.kingstondesignconnection.com/habitatpartnership

Kingston Design Showhouse connects upstate New York makers, designers, artists, vendors and tradespeople in a collaborative effort that celebrates creativity while strengthening the region’s design and build community. Each year, the project fosters local economic development and shines a national spotlight on Hudson Valley talent, with participants regularly featured in both regional and national press.

Follow/Connect with Kingston Design Connection via Website | Facebook | Instagram | Inside+Out Spotlight