The ethnic style in the interior is an inexpensive but very striking way to give your apartment an unusual and original character.
This style of interior design has several names — ethnic style, exotica, folk-ethno style, or simply ethno. The ethnic style implies the maximum use of various decorative elements that reflect the cultural and historical peculiarities of a given nation or country. Thanks to the combination of all kinds of folklore motifs in interior design, the ethnic style manages to create a unique atmosphere of immersion in the traditions and culture of another people.
The tradition of designing interiors in the ethnic style is hundreds of years old and is still not losing its relevance.
Lovers of travel, devotees of studying other cultures, and simply fans of the exotic enthusiastically use the possibilities of ethno to create original decors for their homes, saturated with the national color of one country or another. The wide spread of tourism, international contacts, and the exchange of information all over the world have led to the fact that when you enter someone's apartment, you cannot immediately tell which country you are in. People move to other countries to study or work and absorb a foreign culture — this is how ethno styles arise in the interior of a home. Anyone can find their own ethno style, one that matches their tastes and inclinations.
The ethnic style combines specific decor, furniture, materials, and colors characteristic of the dwelling of a given country or region.
The ethno style is a return to Native American, Indian, Bushmen, Arabian, African, and similar traditionally national elements in interior design. The ethnic style is brightly eclectic. Woven mats, sculptures, rugs, hides, stuffed animals, and cult objects that have lost their function become decorative ornaments, details of the interior. Braids, glass beads and trinkets, fringe, glitter and metallic threads in fabrics, chameleon fabrics, leather, and fur are all relevant.
Colors, patterns, furniture, fabrics, and ornaments seen in different countries or glimpsed in books and magazines give rise to a wealth of design ideas. The ethnic style is not a reproduction of a specific image but an interpretation and adaptation of attractive or memory-evoking elements of another culture. One or two well-chosen objects — simple unglazed jugs or a stool from an African village — can give rise to an attractive and original design project. Use a rich palette of exotic colors — from the hot salsa shades of Mexico to the spicy tones of burnt umber, cinnamon, and terracotta of North Africa.
Quite often the notion of the ethnic style is associated with exotica. Many mistakenly believe that it can only include African figurines, Japanese screens, or Uzbek suzanis (large embroidered wall hangings); however, this opinion is mistaken.
The ethnic style in the interior implies creating a setting that uses the national color characteristic of the traditions of a given people, a given culture. Therefore, for example, Mediterranean design — with its juicy colors, abundance of smalt and ceramics, gleaming gilded accessories, and woven draperies — can just as well be called ethnic as Japanese minimalism or Scandinavian naturalness, German pragmatism, or the Indian "fairy tale".
One of the remarkable features of an ethnic-style interior is that to convey the appropriate energy it is enough to choose the right materials, forms, color scheme, furniture pieces, and other decorative elements. The ethnic style does not require mandatory structural changes, replanning, or complete re-equipment of the space.
The materials for arranging ethno-style interiors are as diverse as the national characteristics of each country. For finishing, either natural materials or their imitation are usually used. Moreover, the imitation must be textured, sometimes even deliberately rough, giving the impression of an "unfinished" surface. Walls can be painted, plastered, or faced to look like stone. Floors are finished with wood or ceramic tile, and on top the floor is decorated with woven mats and rugs in the chosen national interior style. The ethnic style is characterized by the absence of standard interior walls; their role is usually performed by movable partitions and screens. The space can be divided into different zones using lighting elements and floor zoning.
The color scheme of an ethnic interior can vary considerably depending on the specific national culture chosen as the basis of the design. For example, in an interior "in the Indian style" a combination of orange, turquoise, and raspberry tones will look harmonious. The atmosphere of Latin America can be conveyed through original color combinations — deep blue here neighbors on yellow, and brown on saturated pink. Japanese minimalism presupposes completely different color solutions — soft, light, "natural" paints — sand, pearl gray, milky white, with small inclusions of gilding and red. Still, it must be admitted that most interiors in the ethnic style are executed in quite bright, saturated tones.
As for pattern, various national ornaments dominate here, decorating textiles, finishing materials, and accessories. Folklore motifs are specific to each people. Japan or China — images of dragons, nature, or hieroglyphic writing; Africa — schematic hunting scenes, images of animals, spots and stripes; Morocco and the Moroccan style — mosaic panels and multicolored stained glass. Incidentally, it is precisely these two directions of the ethnic interior style — the Eastern and the African — that are currently the most popular both in the world and in Russia.
The furniture must also correspond to the chosen ethno style direction. Preference in an ethnic interior is given to natural materials, and imitation leather or animal hides are often used as upholstery. Woven furniture made of rattan, palm, or bamboo produces a wonderful effect.
General lighting in ethnic interiors should not be too bright; local light sources will help illuminate individual corners of the room and place stylish accents. This way you can emphasize original ethno accessories — various handmade souvenirs or applied art objects.
When choosing a variant of the ethnic interior style, orient yourself not on fashion but on your own taste — whichever ethnic style is closer to you, that is the one to use in the design of your interior.
