I've done many layouts with black and white photos without the heritage look. I basically treat them the same as a color photos. I use colored paper (blues, reds, greens, purples, etc.), I cut them into circles, I corner round, I matt and/or double matt, etc.
The only word of caution is not to use a photo labeling pencil on the front of the photo. B&Ws are matte finish and the labeling pencil will NOT rub off. I made this mistake when I was doing a layout of my puppy's first bath. I wanted to cut the pictures into water drops and didn't have a template for it so instead I drew them freehand. I was more than a little surprised when I rubbed and rubbed and rubbed and I was left with a light blue line!! Fortunately, I cut really close to the line and matted each picture in a matching blue color. In the end it turned out really cute!
Lisa