While the minimalist Nordic aesthetic of IKEA certainly plays a large role as others have pointed out, I find the aesthetic has more to do with what I've seen Brooklyn homogenize towards over the past 10 years. And behind many of those spaces are the Haslegrave brothers. [1]

I'm sure this design aesthetic has arisen independently in many different areas of the world and has seen a convergence due to the factors the article points out, but at least here in Brooklyn this aesthetic arose in the lofts along the waterfront and were pushed around the city by the Haslegraves.

Now the loft building that they live in has a steady stream of AirBnb tourists, unbeknownst to them that the aesthetic they see around the world in no small part has to do with two brothers living down the hall.

[1] http://thescoutmag.com/features/design/1066/the_brothers_has...