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 FARM HOUSE LEFT TO ROT
With a dust covered coat hung from a wardrobe door and a pair of glasses left on a shelf, a remote farmhouse lies abandoned in the Welsh countryside .
WOMAN LOSES 10ST AFTER BLOWING £12K STUDENT LOAN ON FOOD
A woman who blew £12k of her student loan on junk food and booze has lost 10st after ditching her unhealthy habits .
MOODY GORILLA
SAT with his arms folded and a cross look on his face, this Gorilla looks like he's had enough of the Christmas holidays already .
CHIPS IN: MAN MAKES £4K A MONTH SENDING POTATOES IN THE POST
A man has made a SPUD-TACULAR amount of money sending potatoes in the post .
OUT OF THIS WORLD PLANET CAKES
Complete with core, mantle and crust, these incredible planet cakes are truly out of this world .
BABY BABOON GOES BANANAS FOR ACROBATIC MONKEY
Most people bend over backwards to keep children entertained, but this baboon show us how it’s done .
PARKING UP THE WRONG TREE - ROBIN RELIANT FOUND HANGING IN GARDEN
This Robin Reliant appears to have taken a wrong turn after it ended up 15 feet high up in a TREE .
MY SLEEPING BEAUTY NIGHTMARE
MEET the real life sleeping beauty - who snoozed for TWO months when a rare sleep disorder took over her life and turned it into a nightmare .
ADORABLE NEWBORN SEALS PLAY IN SNOW
WITH THEIR adorable big round eyes and fluffy white fur, these baby seals are cute enough to melt any heart .
THE BEAUTIFUL MOSQUE OF COLOURS
As sunlight cascades through its vibrant stained glass windows, every inch of the Nasir-ol-Mulk Mosque bursts with colour .
ANOREXIC DENTAL NURSE WHO SHRUNK TO UNDER FOUR STONE WINS HER NHS FIGHT FOR MORE TREATMENT
AN ANOREXIC dental nurse whose weight plummeted to less than four stone has won her NHS fight for more treatment .