Although I am a huge fan of minimalist, industrial design, I love when I see a print or pattern as the narrator of a room. Adding an ethnic print into a room, whether it's a wall covering, a textured rug, a mix of art prints on the wall, etc, creates a textural landscape for the rest of the space.
Some folks chose to load their spaces chock full of worldly treasures and collections, while others pop in a single object for interest. Here are some examples of how ethnic-inspired designs can create warmth and texture within your home.
1. Brick House
2. Design Sponge's Sneak Peek: Lisi and Alex
3. Chris and Kenny's Blend of Mid-Century and Ethnic Prints House Tour
4. The Selby: Ben Ospital's Home
Images: as linked above
Jessica's Crafted Space
Ana Creates a Community at Home
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Ercol Bar Stool
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
True Greek Recipe: Paximadi Bread Salad with Tomatoes, Feta and Capers
I am not a fan of the [mis]use of the word "ethnic" here. Isn't minimal, Scandinavian designs also ethnic?
ditto on the over/mis-use of the word "ethnic." as an "ethnic" person, I think it's weird. Love the post though.
Maybe "rustic geometric" instead?
Also, LOVE the second picture. Highly textural with pops of color...a lot to look at but cohesive and not overwhelming! The first pic is nice too.
such confusion! one person is claiming 'ethnic', while the other is cringes.
Love the first photo.
If you look up ethnic in the dictionary the term is just describing a certain culture like belonging to or deriving from the cultural ,racial, religious , or linguistic traditions of a people or country ."ethnic dances" for example. The term is used appropriately here. Nice post.
So are CB2 and West Elm the "ethnic" design of middle-class urban white people?
I think the way "ethnic" is being used here really means "folk" - as in, folk art. I think, grammatically, this is a misuse of the word. How about identifying particular ethnicity's folk art? "East African," "Scandinavian" and"Moroccan," are far more useful to us readers, anyway, as we think about what inspires us.
lol apartment zombie. yes, my favourite ethnic print is "keep calm and carry on".
my beef with "ethnic" is twofold.
a) it's grammatically meaningless.
b) it has historically been (and continues to be) used as a tool to separate "the other" from the western, or the white. this is why, as jazmin points out, you don't see scandinavian designs, or victorian english designs being defined as ethnic.
anyway. my rant. this is a design blog, not a social justice blog. i will continue to post passive-aggressive posts any time i see "ethnic". clementine out.