REAL LIFE VICTORIAN
A woman has taken her house back in time - by spending £10,000 to transform it into her Victorian dream home. Quirky spinster Julia Wood, 42, lives her life like a 19th century lady and can often be seen leaving her terraced house wearing ankle length velvet and carrying a parasol. The self confessed "eccentric" has transformed all five rooms of her property in Leicester with late 19th or early 20th century decor. Her lounge, bathroom, bedroom and kitchen are filled with antique furniture, fireplaces and artefacts and even nude portraits complete with lighting from the period. She has a large mahogany mantle piece in her lounge and sips tea from an 1890s crockery set she says she bought for just £10. Her kitchen, which also acts a sitting room, includes an Edwardian day bed, wood burning stove, antique tub chair, pine table and even a black fridge. The author and writer, who has lived in the home for two years, is an avid Oscar Wilde fan and says she lives her life like a character from one of this plays. She said: "I must have a Victorian or Edwardian aura. I was just born in the wrong era. But Downton Abbey has changed things lately. Sales of long gloves have gone up hugely, I understand. All of a sudden I'm in fashion.
Other great stories
ADORABLE CHRISTMAS BABIES
WEARING tiny Christmas accessories, these adorable babies get into the spirit of the season .
AIR OF THE DOG: HILARIOUS FLYING POOCHES
FLYING through the air, these delighted pooches pull their best poses mid-flight .
CLOWNFISH OPENS WIDE TO REVEAL A CREEPY INTRUDER
A little clownfish opens its mouth to reveal a blood sucking intruder living on its tongue .
SPELLBINDING ENGLISH STAR TRAILS
A photographer has captured spellbinding images of stars swirling above the English countryside .
SOARING TAWNY OWL DELIVERS DINNER
SOARING through the air, this is the moment a hungry tawny owl arrives home with dinner .
BABY WORKOUT
FROM a Kung-Fu professional to a mini incredible hulk, these are the babies you wouldn't want to mess with .
EERIE ABANDONED CHILDREN’S ORPHANAGE
Ornate chandeliers and mahogany panelling give a glimpse into this abandoned building's former glory after it's been left to rot for the past decade .
UNIQUE CAVE RESTAURANT
DINING under the stars, this restaurant takes you back in time - inside an ancient cave .
ENDANGERED GORILLA BORN AT TWYCROSS ZOO
A proud gorilla mum welcomes her newborn baby western lowland gorilla, a critically endangered species .
HONEYMOON BRIDE DIED OF HEROIN OVERDOSE
A coroner stunned an inquest into a honeymooner who died abroad today by asking her husband if he was involved in her drugs death .
AERIALS OF FLOODING ON SOMERSET LEVELS
Sam Notaro built his own flood defences to protect his four-bedroom home in Moorland, Somerset Flooding is likely to get worse around Somerset as groundwater levels continue to rise .
WORLD’S LARGEST JIGSAW
Made up of 40,000 pieces, putting in over 200 hours of work and blunting endless blades, this is the final result for the world’s largest jigsaw, finally finished on Wednesday .