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
REAL LIFE DOLLS HOUSE
Ever wished you could live in a house just like Barbie's? Canadian sculptor Heather Benning has created the life-size dollhouse of her dreams out a derelict building .
REAL-LIFE LITTLE BO PEEP AGE 20 DEVOTED TO HER 4 PET SHEEP
Meet the real-life Little Bo Peep - a young woman who spends her days tending to her four pet SHEEP .
WOMAN WEARS SAME TEE FOR A YEAR FOR DAUGHTER WHO CAN’T SPEAK
A mum-of-two has worn the same t-shirt for an entire year to raise awareness of a 1 in 7 million condition that prevents her daughter from talking .
HYPER-REALISTIC DINNER IS ACTUALLY DESSERT
From a platter of finger licking chicken wings to a bowl of Chinese noodle soup, these foodie snaps are enough to make your savoury saliva glands drool .
BIKINI DIVER SWIMS WITH SHARKS
ARMED with her camera, bikini and flippers, this brave diver goes swimming with SHARKS .
THIRSTY SQUIRREL TAKES A BREAK
DIPPING his head into the vase of water, this little squirrel takes a refreshing break from an afternoon of eating .
MUM LOSES 10 STONE AFTER SON ASKS IF SHE’S PREGNANT
A mum-of-three lost 10 stone after her son asked if she was pregnant .
WOMB STROKE SURVIVOR AMAZES DOCS BY TAKING FIRST STEPS
WOMB STROKE SURVIVOR AMAZES DOCS BY TAKING FIRST STEPS - A little girl who suffered a catastrophic stroke in the womb which would have killed an adult has stunned the medical world by learning to walk, talk and see .
EVIL MONSTER KILLED MY DAUGHTER OVER SECRET ABORTION
The mother of a young woman stabbed 26 times by her ex-partner for having a secret abortion has told how her daughter was cruelly betrayed by her own social worker .
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 .
PORCUPINES COME CLOSE TO VICTORY AGAINST PRIDE OF HUNGRY LIONS
Jostling their quills into the noses of some unlucky cubs, this is the moment two feisty porcupines ALMOST defeat a pride of seven lions .