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.
An Italian photographer travelled to northern India where he visited poverty stricken suburbs and captured ordinary people in a series of intimate and expressive portraits .
HEART-MELTING shots of a French bulldog and a ten-month-old French baby could be the cutest you’re likely to see .
Sprawled out on top of a log, this sleeping leopard takes a relaxing break from his daily routine .
A pair of BEAUTIFUL rescue sea turtles spot their catch in the waters of the Great Barrier Reef .
DINING under the stars, this restaurant takes you back in time - inside an ancient cave .
This hungry white tiger has just one thing on her mind - to taste fresh meat .
A mother is living in fear after the stalker she holds responsible for her daughter's death is back on the streets, after serving just one year in prison .
A retired foster carer has spent a whopping £48k on her brood of lifelike dolls .
A kingfisher’s bright blue and orange feathers glisten in the sunlight as the bird dives into a lake .
This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .
A diver looks like a minnow as she swims alongside a gigantic whale shark, the largest species of fish on the planet .
TRYING their best to wriggle away, three adorable tiger cubs receive their health checks at Chester Zoo .