A taste of the tropics in Hackney Kate Jacobs Blue Curry has pulled off quite a balancing act in his Victorian terrace, treading a confident path between clutter and calm, colour and neutrals, old and new. Curry found this place in 2012. After 12 years in a one-bedroom flat, the artist felt the need for more space: “I really wanted a garden and enough room to unbox my many collections.” Flat-hunting, he saw a lot of “badly tarted-up two-bedroom flats.” Then, in the same price bracket, he found this place – an imposing four-floor house overlooking east London’s Victoria Park. The catch? “It was an absolute wreck, with windows falling out, no heating and not much in the way of plumbing or electrics – just extension cables snaking between the bedsit rooms.” Most alarming was a huge crack running the height of the house, “big enough to put your hand in”, recalls Curry with grim relish. “But there was so much potential, so much history. I decided to dive in.”