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
MENINGITIS BOY TAKES FIRST STEPS ON PROSTHETIC LIMBS
An eight-year-old boy who lost his legs and left hand to meningitis is standing tall after learning to walk on his prosthetic limbs .
IDYLLIC ICELAND
With stunning scenery and otherworldly vistas, Iceland’s rural beauty is inescapable – especially for Hollywood .
SHOCKING CCTV OF WOMEN AND CHILD HIT AND RUN
THIS astonishing film shows the moment a hit-and-run driver ploughed into a woman and a toddler on a Coventry street .
I HID AWAY FOR YEARS AFTER DEVELOPING SORES ON MY FACE AND BODY - NOW I’M A DIVERSITY MODEL
A woman whose face and body was left scarred for life by angry sores, caused by Lupus, has become a diversity model .
MAN CONTINUES HIS WORLD MAP BACK TATTOO
An American man continues on his mission to document his journey around the globe by completing a world map tattoo on his back .
CHERYL LOOKALIKE SLAMS SKINNY-SHAMING PUBLIC
A Cheryl Fernandez-Versini lookalike has slammed skinny-shamers, after seeing her celebrity doppelganger abused for her tiny frame .
NATURE'S MOST STUNNING SHAPES AND PATTERNS
FROM ICE bubbles to boiling lava, these photographs highlight the stunning shapes and patterns found in nature .
SMALLEST HOUSE IN THE UK
WELCOME to the pretty 122-inch-tall red dwelling that lays claim to the title of the UK's smallest house .
EYE-OPENING INSIGHT INTO KENYA’S LARGEST DUMPING GROUND
PILES of trash provide a living for thousands in Nairobi, Kenya .
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 .
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 .