Changing furniture and home décor can be a costly business, even if you don’t get into the expense of things like extensions or loft conversions. But it can be frustrating to make this kind of change to your home on a piecemeal basis. If you do things as and when you can afford them, it can feel like you never actually reach a conclusion, a moment where you can step back and say ‘voilà!’ and show off the finished project. More often than not, you’ll get started here and there around the house and find it difficult to complete any particular room.

Of course, it helps to do some planning before you begin. Not only in how you will allocate the time to do the painting, floor sanding or laying of carpet, but also how you will be able to pay for it all.

There are some areas of home decorating though, when you can have something before you can really afford it. When it comes to home furnishings, many stores now offer interest free payment plans. So, for example, if you want to buy a new living room furniture you can get an interest free sofa, with payments spread over 12, 24 or 36 months, rather than having to pay the whole amount all at once. This kind of payment is not the same as using your credit card, where monthly interest will rack up if you don’t pay the minimum balance. It’s simply a way of spreading the payments at 0% interest. There shouldn’t be any catches involved, but it’s always worth reading all the small print before you sign any agreement.

There are some more expensive items like recliner chairs and sofas that this kind of payment can be really useful for. Rather than taking a big wedge out of one month’s pay cheque, you will hardly notice the small monthly payment when it’s divided over 36 months.

The best idea is to do the hard work of painting and decorating first, and then to buy the dream living room furniture or dining table and chairs that you’ve had your heart set on. If you need to use an interest free scheme, double check the terms and conditions, but then you’ll be free to show off your newly renovated home straight away.