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
CHEEKY WHITE TIGER CUB

WITH HIS PAW covering his mouth, this cheeky cub looks amused by something .

FROZEN IN TIME LIGHTHOUSE

This frozen lighthouse in Michigan could easily be mistaken for a still from the snow swept disaster movie The Day After Tomorrow .

PLAYFUL OWL PLAYS HIDE AND SEEK

A cheeky owl fancies a game of hide and seek as it peeps out from behind a tree .

IPAD GAMES FOR KITTIES TURNS THEM INTO PI-CAT-SSO

Is your cat bored? Do his usual playthings simply not do it for him anymore? Not to worry - there's an app for that .

DO YOU WANT TO BUILD A SNOWMAN?

Fetching a tiny carrot and a head-shaped snowball, a red squirrel builds the perfect snowman .

WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR

HOTSPOT MEDIA - WAVE-ING GOODBYE TO RUSH HOUR: WHILE most workers endure commuting chaos by road or rail everyday, one entrepreneur has come up with a novel way to get to the office - by KAYAK .

WOMAN SHEDS 15ST AFTER BEATING CHEESE ADDICTION

A woman has lost a massive 15st after beating her addiction to cheese .

BOOM SHAKE SHAKE SHAKE THE ROOM

WELCOME to the 125 decibel boombox bus that could damage your hearing if you party too close to its giant speakers .

DOG CAN FINALLY SEE OWNER AGAIN THANKS TO £1K FACELIFT

A dog whose forehead skin was so heavy that he was going blind has finally seen his owner again after undergoing a £1K FACELIFT .

AURORA BOREALIS ILLUMINATES LAPLAND

From vivid greens to glowing pinks, the colours of the aurora borealis fill the night sky above a snow covered Lapland .

BRITISH KINGFISHER SPLASH

BRITISH kingfishers love to cool off by creating a splash .

BLACK AND WHITE PHOTOGRAPHS BROUGHT TO LIFE

BREATHING life back into old photographs, these black and white images are transformed by colour .