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
N-ICE ICE BABY: AMAZING SKIING 2YR OLD
RACING down the slopes in her tiny ski gear, this TWO-YEAR-OLD girl has already mastered the art of skiing .
GIANT CANYON SWING
FORGET Thorpe Park this summer as this is a 50 mile-per-hour ride over the Colorado River CANYON .
SLEEP DISORDER WOMAN COLLAPSES EVERY TIME SHE LAUGHS
A woman with a rare condition that means she collapses every time she laughs fears she may have passed the rare illness onto her young son .
BUBBLE BLOWING BEAR
BLOWING bubbles underwater, this adorable polar bear slides into his tank for a playful dip .
PICTURED: WORLD’S BEST FOR BALLOONING
Hot Air Balloon tour across Cappadocia, Turkey – With the sun rising in the distance and the spectacular landscapes below, these are the breathtaking views afforded from a hot air balloon flight in Turkey .
MY CONTRACTIONS LASTED TWO MONTHS
AN expectant mum suffered crippling contractions lasting a gruelling two months, due to complications from a rare condition .
ARRR-DORABLE ONE-EYED PIRATE KITTEN
AN ADORABLE one-eyed kitten has been dubbed the 'pirate cat' because of his pirate-like facial expressions .
MY SLEEPING BEAUTY NIGHTMARE
MEET the real life sleeping beauty - who snoozed for TWO months when a rare sleep disorder took over her life and turned it into a nightmare .
TRANSGENDER WOMAN SPENDS £25K TO BECOME BEAUTY QUEEN
A transgender woman has beaten the bullies after spending £25K on surgery to become a beauty pageant queen .
STUNNING ENGLISH COASTAL LANDSCAPES
WITH STUNNING colours and serene scenes, these photographs capture the otherworldly beauty of the English coast .
WOMAN NEARLY DIED AFTER INFECTED ECZEMA WOUND LED TO DEADLY FLESH-EATING BUG THAT ATE A HOLE IN HER ARM
A woman was left fighting for her life after an eczema wound became infected and caused a deadly flesh-eating bug to ravish a hole in her arm .
ABANDONED WILD WEST THEME PARK
The gunslingers are long gone and tumbleweeds have taken over at this abandoned American Wild West Theme Park in Cornwall .