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
ABANDONED OLD CROW COTTAGE
AN OLD ENGLISH cottage packed full of history and valuables has been left to rot .
SOUTHERN CROSSED AURORA
YOU’VE heard of the northern lights now feast your eyes on the natural wonder of the SOUTHERN lights .
PEEKABOO SQUIRRELS EMERGE FROM THEIR NEST
SQUEEZING their furry faces through a hole in a tree, a trio of curious baby squirrels leave their nest for the first time to explore their surroundings .
NOT FIT FOR DOGS - RSPCA RESCUERS FIND ANIMALS IN SHOCKING FILTH
It's incredible to think anyone could live in such horrendous squalor - yet two men have been prosecuted for keeping their homes in such revolting conditions that it was no longer fit for their animals .
THUG FISH LOOK LIKE THEY MIGHT BATTER PHOTOGRAPHER
STARING open-mouthed into the camera, this shocked fish looks out of place in the middle of its angry friends .
SISTERS BOTCHED NOSE JOBS AND £19.5K SURGERY BILL
Two sisters from Hampshire who suffered botched nose jobs have spent £19 .
BACKFLIPPING SHARK SOARS DURING SEAL HUNT
Exploding out of the water, a great white shark performs a backflip during a hunt for seals .
REAL LIFE ELF - WOMAN HAS EARS POINTED TO LOOK LIKE AN ELF
A Canadian woman who is obsessed with all things mythical has had her ears cut and shaped to look like an ELF .
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 .
PEEK-A-BOO FISH: BRIT SNAPPER MAKES RARE FIND
A Brit photographer has captured one of the world's most camera-shy species of fish - during a game of underwater peek-a-boo .
SUPER TOT – BIZARRE BABY PHOTO’S
Magical photos of your baby smiling for the first time are a priceless treasure for many a proud parent .
WOMAN TOO SCARED TO LEAVE HOUSE AFTER HORROR HAIR DYE REACTION
A woman who suffered from an allergic reaction to hair dye that made her face swell to twice its size has been left too scared to leave the house .