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
CANCER SURVIVOR STARTS STYLE BLOG FOR COLOSTOMY BAG WEARERS
A woman who battled aggressive bowel cancer has started a fashion blog offering style tips for those living with a colostomy bag .
BRAZEN COPS PARK IN RESTRICTED BAY
Pic By HotSpot Media - GAME, SET-TEE AND MATCH: COUPLE INSTALL TENNIS COURT IN LOUNGE- In Pic - Ben Walters’ message to West Midlands Police via social media .
FIGHTING BLACKBACK GORILLAS
FISTS fly as two gorillas take each other on in a dramatic battle .
HEROIC BURNS SURVIVOR BECOMES FIREFIGHTER
An American man who suffered horrific third-degree burns to 70 percent of his body in a childhood accident has faced his fears by becoming a firefighter .
INCREDIBLE FOG CREATES GLOWING LANDSCAPES OVER TAIWAN
A blanket of fog is lit up by the colourful glowing lights of the city below .
LOVE RAT FIANCE CHEATED WITH MY MUM
When Kylie Holgate discovered her fiancé was having an affair, her world came crashing down .
250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM
THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS - 250 DRIVERS ARRESTED FOR STREET RACING IN BIRMINGHAM- In Pic - The start line on the Heartlands Parkway Nechels Birmingham .
BASHFUL ORANGUTAN
A young orangutan comes over all shy as she hides her face behind a broken bucket .
BABY GIVEN THREE PER CENT CHANCE OF LIFE COMES HOME FOR FIRST TIME
A baby who was given just a three per cent chance of survival at birth has beaten the odds to come home - even though docs told his parents to abort him 12 times .
TUNNEL FOR VICTORY
What lies beneath this building site? Britain's great hope of winning the pre-WW2 arms race against Nazi Germany .
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 .