Johnstones Paint vs Dulux | Should you go to the Paint Shed and colour match?

DYI is no longer a means to an end – it’s a whole genre of content for social media. In fairness, it’s quite enjoyable to watch. 

The first thing you’ll do when you move into a new house, or just want to freshen up a room, is to give the room a new lick of paint. It’s easy and a very rewarding process. 

You go to the shops, pick a colour and then may therefore be wondering which paint brand to choose? Dulex? Crown? or Johnstones? I had heard that you can go into The Paint Shed and ask them to colour match Dulux for a fraction of the price – it seems that they use Johnstones paint. This time, I was painting my living room and decided to see whether I could save a few quid. 

So, which is better Johnstones or Dulux paint? 

The answer in a broad stroke

OK – let me just get to the point quickly: Dulux is a much better paint. It’s easier to apply and the colour is exactly what it said on the tin – Johnstones paint was sticky and came out the wrong colour. If you need paint, we’d suggest that you buy from Dulux (it’s the same price for 5L)

I used both paints because things went wrong. Otherwise, I would have just continued with Johnstones. 

We decided on a nice neutral colour of Summer Linen. A Dulux colour that we asked to be colour matched with Johnstones paint. Once the paint was mixed, we were given the price for 5L it was an identical price to Dulux (£36). We decided just to take the paint and hope it was of a similar quality and colour. 

Once we started the first quote, we noticed two things wrong – the colour was strangely blue and had a very sticky consistency. It was hard work to get it onto the walls evenly, and the brush strokes were very visible. Using the roller was no better. The paint stuck to the roller just fine, but it didn’t transfer onto the wall very well. By the end of the first wall, we decided to let the paint dry and assess our situation. It was obvious, we’d made a mistake. 

Once the paint had dried, the colour was bright blue. Not at all what we wanted or anything close to our Dulux tester (which isn’t close a good chunk of the time). 

We ended up buying another 5L can from Dulux, which arrived the next day. Instantly, we noticed the difference. The paint was smoother, easier to apply and instantly the colour dried as we had expected it. 

We started kicking ourselves for trying to save a little bit of money, and ended up spending double. 

Final thoughts

Compared to Johnstones, Dulux is a much better brand for paint. Smoother, easier to apply and you can trust the colours. Our experience with Johnstones was not the greatest, and we will not be using any paint from that brand in the future.