I’m home from a fun afternoon of shopping and I want to share this great tip with you. I’ve found the cheapest place to buy paint!
At Home Depot today, I was purchasing a gallon of paint to transform my next project, a cute little lingerie bureau…or it will be once I’m finished with it. 😉
While the paint guy, or should I say Paint-Associate was mixing my colour, I scoped out a bunch of pre-mixed paints selling for $9 a gallon. These were Behr Paint & Primer which are regularly priced at $47/gallon. Here they were selling for the price of Thrift Store Paint. Actually, cheaper than Thrift Store Paint! And if this is the first time you’ve ever heard of the stuff… Y-E-S… there really is such a thing.
… back to my shopping.
So for $9, I found this beautiful “White” which is VERY similar to the Antique White that I’ve used on my last few projects. It’s not quite as warm, but pretty darn close. Can you see a big difference?
Neither could I, so I grabbed the can and ran to the check-out counter. Ok, I didn’t really run because I’m soooo not a runner. But if I was… lol… this was a no-brainer-must-have purchase.
I was so happy with my find, I forgot to ask the guy, I mean Paint-Associate, to shake the can for me. Bummer… but I’ll be sure to give it a thorough shaking while doing my happy dance.
You can find these mis-tints or “OOPS-pre-mixed-paints” at any local paint or hardware store. These paints get custom mixed for a customer, but for whatever reason the person decides not to buy. The store can’t re-shelf this pre-mixed paint, so they drastically mark down the price by 70-80% to get rid of it.
Next time you’re paint shopping at Lowes, Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire, or any of the brand name paint stores, watch for these amazing deals! 
My next stop… I drove to the other cheapest place to buy paint…Walmart.
I recently discovered LOOP. LOOP is a company which takes quality paints bound for the landfill and creates premium recycled paints.
What a great idea! Walmart must have thought so too because LOOP is available in most Canadian Walmart stores from coast to coast. The colours are limited, only 8 designer colours in total, but for $13.88/gallon I’m looking forward to giving it a try. It’s a perfect way to keep re-finishing costs down while I recycle and reuse!
I have no idea what kind of coverage or overall quality recycled paints have, but once I give it a go, I’ll definitely share my experience and write a review.
While we’re on the topic of recycling and inexpensive paints Boomerang-Recycled-Paints sell at Thrift Stores for $19.99/gallon.
Rona also has an Eco-Responsible brand, Rona’s ECO which is priced at $18.99/gallon.
I wanted to buy them all… but unfortunately ran out of shopping time.
I’ve learned the cheapest place to buy paint is often right under my nose at Lowes, Home Depot, Rona, Canadian Tire or any other large store which mixes brand name paints. A tip… if you’re buying pre-mixed paints, it still needs to be thoroughly mixed. Don’t get overly excited over your deal and forget to ask the paint guy, oops…I mean Paint Associate to shake your can!
I’m really happy with my paint deals today. 🙂
Hope you had a fun day and thanks for reading… and, oh… if you know of any cheap paint resources in your area, leave a comment and let me know!
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ok its 10 years later, and thought I’d give a little update- Loop paint is now exclusively at Giant Tiger. (vs Walmart) and its $20 , avail in 10 neutral interior colours and 1 exterior color. which is Grey,
Thanks for this Lynn! 🙂
Oh, one more thing, the correct link for loop paint is : https://www.looppaints.com
And I’ve found Home depot, at least in my town, charges 50% of the normal price for a mistint – crazy – for $40 i’ll pick my own colour thanks LOL I’m still amassing a bunch of exterior paints in diff colours for my project -faux rock – a lot of it. sigh, How come I can find it when I don’t need it. lol
Looking for Rustoleum Restore 12x, transparent, STAIN/SEALER Light Cedar. Gal. water based. Need about 10 gal. to finish a project-fence.
Right before Covid hit, there was some construction done on an old building nearby that was getting turned into condos. I asked if they had any paint leftover and was given just over 15 gallons of a pale gray in a 50-gallon container. A nice young man even offered to load it onto my pick-up for me (must have been looking especially old and creaky that day.) I mixed in some acrylic craft paints from the dollar store with an old hand blender to get just the right beige (which I’m calling sunlit sand) and painted an apartment we rent out that needed TLC before renting to a new tenant. I can’t tell you how happy this made my wife. She constantly finds new ways to be thrifty and it has definitely spread over the rest of the family.
Lucky YOU! What a great story Daniel! And your wife sounds like my kinda girl. 😉
The cacium that you find in pet stores for leopard geckos is ulra fine, ultra white and pure. It is food grade as the geckos actually eat it on thier food. It’ so fine, it stays suspended in water. It is 11$ Cad for approximately 1lb in a well sealed sturdy jar.
I do a lot of subsidized housing work and one of the best ways I was able to find quality paint at more than affordable prices was I went to the Sherwin-Williams. I asked for their Miss tinted paints. The last run I did I bought $6,500 worth of paint for $120. It being a professional establishment professional painters don’t want to bye Miss tinted items because their customers are looking for a particular color. The investors that do the housing in Detroit could care less as long as it doesn’t peel off. I get a higher quality paint at a price I cannot even compare anywhere else.
Brilliant! And I love Sherwin Williams. They’ve always been super helpful and have GREAT sales!
Yes I discovered these paints years ago. The paints are customer returns and colors that customers decided they did not want. At my local home depot some gallons will be priced as low as like 5 bucks. The 9 dollar stuff is the Behr premium Plus, and Premium Plus ultra which are the better paint and primer in one. Its like a gold mine to me and I always check these paints before I pay the 45 bucks for a gallon of paint. Also they sell the 5 gallon paint rejects. Like the outdoor house pain. I painted my entire house with the exterior paint rejects for less than 50 bucks. So yeah if you didn’t know about the returns and rejected paint section at home depot. You have seriously been missing out.
I am looking for an exterior gray and exterior white trim… I wonder if I can find something light and tint it more gray… ! worth a try!
The Habitat for humanity restore. If you go- call ahead and find out discount and 1/2 off days. Soooo worth it!
Brilliant Laila!
very helpful can you sometimes get the mixed whites that people dont buy mixed to another color if if can with the white and does habitat have paint often? thanks for your feedback
and you are a very pretty lady
Always buy the very best paint they sell.
Cheap paint takes two or more coats (twice the labor and paint) and worse it may peel on you. That’s when the big bucks start. Why ? You have to chisel the loose peeling off flakes before you can repaint with real paint.
This can take a week or more of labor (thousand$).
For some reason in certain places you need dynamite to get it off but after you paint over it, it peels underneath your new good paint ruining the job.
Then you have to go in and sand it all away and re-paint again.
Solution ? : Never buy the cheap paint.
Hope this helps you.
Spoken like a professional painter. 🙂 Thanks for this Al! And yes, I love finding good brand name paints in the OOPS section.
They’re not talking about cheap paint. They’re talking about high-quality at a cheaper price. My mother says Champagne taste with beer money.
Thanks, I put a link to this page in a comment to one of my subscribers.
First timer on your site and I find it very informative. Am interested in starting a business in the sale of paint in Ghana, my home country and looking for best deals I can find. Any help? Thanks in advance.
I love getting the mistints! It’s the only paint I buy. I usually get mine at Lowe’s and they happily add to it to change the colors for me and don’t charge any more for it.
Where are some of the location that I may find the oops paint in great need.Im east bound but I will travel west for it
Designated paint stores or places that sell paint -eg Home Depot, Lowes, etc usually have Ooops paints Ramona. If you ask an associate, they are always super helpful.
Just learned today that I can pick up paint for free at the Transfer Station (what we used to call the dump).
I use this a lot when I have to paint. My favorite is Benjamin Moore paints as they are by far the best quality but are very expensive, except their mustiness which are $10, even for their $74/can AQUA which is AWESOME paint. On one occasion, while painting my whole basement in an off-white /light beige Colour, I bought 5 cans of AQUA that were all very similar in Colour, placed them ALL in a 5 gallon pail, stirred them up together and had enough of what is now the same coloured paint to do everything. I was so proud of myself for thinking of that. Nearly $400 of paint for $50.
I used to work at Sherwin-williams and we also sold “oops” paint but a lot of the time it was because we would try to match a color and it wouldnt work out (back when we manually would color match). We would choose a color in our system as close to the match and them add color to make it match the customers request. So the paint may say the title/color or formula but that doesnt mean its the full formula so always make a sample jar or swipe some color on a white card and what formula etc is on the can in case you ever want more.
Hi Denise. Thanks for sharing your experience. I am also curious about Loop Paint. It has been almost 2 years since you tried it. Did you try painting walls with it ? If you did , how does it look now ? Does it have any problem. Because it might look good when you paint with it but I wonder if it stays good for few years.
Jon, I haven’t used Loop to paint walls. My sister has though. She used Loop Paint to paint her laundry room. It’s been over a year and the paint has held up nicely.
Loop paint peeled but only because I painted over a bumpy stucco kind of wall in the bathroom and the moisture got under it now chunks of it is coming off .
In the other areas it’s holding up fine . Cool tan brown colour it looks nice
Try adding cement sealer to your paint.
It is very sticky and binds to the wall
Also used as a over coat it seals, prevents chalking on outdoor projects, prevents wood from rain sun,
Do not use on light pastels as it seems to muddy it up
Always do a test spot until you get used to using it
I use it on most everything I paint
Dues great on antique metal projects
Available in gross and semi gloss
I have found 3 brands, have not done a test on which is best
Also water proofs cloth products
I have found that using Thompson’s water sealer in clear mixed at a ratio of 1:5 with paint is also great to increase adhesion and extending wear outdoors. Adding 1 tbsp of bleach per gallon also helps prevent mold and mildew. mixed 1
Have you ever used exterior paint on your projects? I came across a quart of Glidden barn red exterior latex paint in a satin finish for $2.00 in the oops paint at my local Home Depot and I couldn’t pass it up. I have been thinking of trying chalk paint out and thought that this might be a good canidate to experiment with and have a piece in mind to do the test with. I know that interior and exterior paints have some different properties and was wondering if you thought that it would make any difference or could speak from experience if there is any difference when painting furniture that is meant for interior use.
I have never tried exterior paints on my projects but that’s not to say I won’t! I don’t think you could go wrong because if its durable enough for the elements outdoors, I would think that would provided extra durability on furniture. This is something I’m going to look into. 🙂
Thanks for the response. I was thinking the same as you. If it can hold up to the elements, it should be able to stick well to furniture. From what I read it is more flexible but not as scrubbable as interior, so it might be a prime canidate for polycoating to give it a tough, wearable surface. I swung by Home Depot again today to see what oops they had after the weekend and scored a bunch of interior samples for 50 cents a piece. They did have a couple of other quarts sitting out that were exterior and one was a nice light gray. I left but might have to stop in tomorrow to see if it is still available. If you try exterior paint, let me know how it goes. I was curious if it would work the same in your paint gun and your opinion on it’s other finishing qualities based on your other experiences.
If I beat you to it Jen… I’ll definitely let you know. If you get around to trying before I do, I’d love to hear how it works for you! And 50 cents samples… score! 😉
Exterior paint is great on interior trim and kids’ furniture because it doesn’t flake off like interior latex.. It won’t need so much poly coating. It also repells water and resists mold if applied in a basement or porch. Behr and AceHardware paint hold up best for nonprofessional use, gliding on smooth.
I haven’t bought a new gallon of paint in years, always buy recycled at the Restore, then mix my own colors!
Hi. Love your hints about DIY chalk paint. Just wondering if semi gloss works or does it have to be only flat
I have used a semi-gloss for the DIY ChalkyPaint and it’s worked just fine Judy. But to get the “chalkiest/flattest” finish, an eggshell or flat paint works the very best.
I know this is a little late, but I thought I would post anyway. After doing alot of looking around for a less expensive paint option I finally settled on Loop brand paint. I have to say, I’m convinced. The price was the original reason, but I have to say this paint was spot on!
We used both brush and rollers (of course) and it worked well equally with both. No bubbles or “grit” in the paint, which I was worried about initially what with the recycled thing. I would personally recommend this paint to anyone. Also, the fact that it’s paint that would have otherwise polluted or taken storage space somewhere makes me happy.
Thanks so much for leaving your review/comment Scott! This is really helpful for anyone who may be thinking of trying it. I’ve used Loop paint for a good few of my Homemade ChalkPaint projects and I’m really pleased with it also!
How did you end up liking the Loop paint? I’m considering getting it.
I’ve used Loop Paint mixed with my Homemade Chalk Paint recipes and it looks fabulous. The coverage and consistency are great but there is a slight odor while working with it… doesn’t dry smelly though! 🙂
Thanks Denise! 🙂
Just to let you know, never, please, no matter how cheap or eco-friendly the paint is at RONA, RONA ECO paint, never buy it. You are wasting your time and money. How can it be eco-friendly when you have to apply it 3 times, maybe 4, I stop at 3 cause I can’t stand it anymore, and it still doesn’t cover the walls properly. Save your money and time, and spend on the good stuff. You will regret it if you buy Rona Eco brand paint. I have painted my room that is approximately 12′ x 12′ a couple of times already and it only took me about 1 gallon of paint (Benjamin, Sico). With a Rona Eco brand, I’ve gone through 1 1/2 gallon on 3 coats and still missing spots. I’m not a newbie in painting. I have painted my house 4 times in the last 8 years and I know what each room with consume. 2 gallons for 1 room? Ridiculous. It also has a lingering smell even though it says “Low VOC”. I guess you shouldn’t expect something good from something that is made from garbage/left over/recycled.
Chris, I have 2 gallons of Rona Eco waiting to be tested in my basement…just haven’t got around to trying it yet. I can’t comment on Rona Eco but I have had good results from other Re-Cycled paints. Yes, there is a slight odor while painting (haven’t notices it lingered) but coverage has been impressive when I used it with my chalk paint recipes. M-M-M works with many trades including professional painters. Many times there is a surplus of QUALITY paints which now get re-cycled rather than thrown away. Personally, I commend these companies I and I feel they’re doing a fabulous job!
I just finished painting my apartment with 3 different colours of Rona Eco Paint. I love it.
I painted my accent wall with the Oak Bark colour. This is quite a dark colour. I painted without primer and only needed 2 coats!
Here’s the thing: When you paint you must use a good quality roller. If you use a cheap roller, no matter how good your paint, you will be slapping on more coats of paint. It really is just that simple.
I truly love the end result and it is eco friendly and covers well. I recommend Rona Eco paint. On top of that, I got it the paint on sale, so I basically painted my apartment for around $ 50. Love.
Thanks for leaving this comment Sabrina! I have 2 gallons of RonaEco sitting on my paint shelf but I haven’t tried it yet. Fifty dollars to paint an apartment with a paint you like… can’t go wrong! 🙂
This is exactly what I’ve been doing also. Just got into chalk paint this summer and love it. I make my own with the cc. I ordered it online from a company that sells brewing items. I think it goes in wine and beer. I noticed you said that you do use the paint with the primer in. The first time I tried it was a ball of goop. So I thought it was the primer. But now after seeing others have had trouble with Valspar that could have been it. I love all your expertise and really appreciate your sharing your knowledge.
Thanks Patty! 🙂 Ya, you can get some GREAT deals which can REALLY keep costs down!
Love, love, love your site!, but don’t tell EVERYONE about the secret “chepest paint” places, competition is stiff already!!! Lol. Great info and fun to read!
Competition is stiff but I
MUST
share all my TIPS & SECRETS to keep fabulous people like yourself loving my site! Thanks for the giggle and the compliment Stephanie. 🙂
Also find mistints at Sherwin-Williams, Dulux, Benjamin-Moore, General Paint, Cloverdale. Any place that sells paint. Generally the paint is perfectly fine, either the employee made a mistake and mixed the color incorrectly, or the customer didn’t like the color. It’s the best way to find inexspensive paint that I know of. I’ve been a “paint store employee” for 23 years : )