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
ADORABLE OWLS SHELTER FROM THE RAIN
HUDDLING under a leaf, a pair of adorable Javan scops owls take shelter from the rain .
WOMAN REJECTED BY ADOPTION AGENCY DUE TO PREGNANCY PHOBIA
A woman has spoken of her heartbreak after she was rejected by an adoption agency because of her pregnancy phobia .
CAVE ROOM HOTEL
THIS unique holiday accommodation allows you to enjoy a full Flintstones experience .
SLEEPING BEAUTIES
Lying angelically with a range of expressions etched on their tiny faces, little bundles of joy are innocently captured in their first few days in these adorable photographs .
GIRL BEATS ANOREXIA AFTER MUM PLANS FUNERAL
A teenager has beaten anorexia after becoming so ill that her mum planned her funeral .
RECORD BREAKING GRAN'S COLLECTION OF NEARLY 800 SHEEP
RECORD BREAKING GRAN'S COLLECTION OF NEARLY 800 SHEEP HOTSPOT MEDIA – WITH PICS 0121 551 1004 By Katie Thompson A record-breaking baa-rmy gran with a love for sheep has amassed a collection of nearly 800 woolly wonders .
MUM SPENDS THOUSANDS ON FAKE BABIES INSTEAD OF HER REAL KIDS
A mum-of-two has splashed out £20k on her seven reborn dolls, but refuses to treat her real kids .
HOUNDTON TABBY
FROM MRS Patmore to Lady Sybil, these barking mad illustrations show the WOOF-er side of some of our most loved Downton characters .
POLAR BEAR PLAY
WITH SNOW COVERING the ground around them, these two polar bears play fight .
MICK JAGGER'S LUXURY GLASTO YURT
FEAST your eyes onthe £3K luxury yurts that rock legend Mick Jagger will be basking in between Glastonbury performances this weekend .
FIRE BREATHING FIAT 500
AN ITALIAN mechanic has created the world’s most ferocious mini-car .
NINJA RED SQUIRREL
A NINJA red squirrel cuts a dashing figure as the little fella jumps up to ten-feet between treetops in the Yorkshire Dales .