When I discovered that Menards carried chalk paint I had to try it out - especially since the price was only $19.97 for a quart. Don't expect this paint to be front and center in the paint department though, you'll have to walk way in back to the end of one of the paint aisles to find Dutch Boy Dimensions Chalky Finish paint. Just like the other chalk paint brands, you can choose from a great selection of colors (42 of them actually).
I wanted to give this sturdy yet very dated desk that I got for a steal an updated look for our guest room/office. After checking out the paint chip sheet for the Dutch Boy Dimensions Chalky Finish paint, I decided to go with a light gray color. I followed directions and tested an area to make sure the paint did not bead. If the paint beads, you have to lightly sand the surface so the paint will adhere better.
After the paint dried (about an hour later), my desk was purple. This was not the color I picked out at Menards. There was no way I was going to put a purple desk in our guest room/office so it was back to Menards for me for another quart of paint. This time I decided to go with white. My advice to anyone that plans on using Menards chalk paint is to take that paint chip sheet outside to look at the colors in natural light. I'm not sure if it was the lighting at Menards (it can be pretty dark back in the paint department) or if whoever mixed the paint for me possibly made a mistake, but the paint chip did not match the paint on my desk.
It was mid-July when I painted the desk and mid-July in the midwest means humidity. We ended up bringing the desk inside so it would dry faster with the A/C. I used the entire quart of white paint to cover the purple. I did not expect to use that much paint on a surface that already had paint applied to it.
I sealed the desk after the paint was dry with Minwax Polycrylic Polyurethane. I prefer this to wax because it protects better than wax and does not have to be reapplied like wax.
All in all I think Dutch Boy Dimensions Chalky Finish paint from Menards is a decent product for the price. I do feel as though I used more paint than I should have so maybe the cost savings wasn't really there for such a large project and I would have been better off with Annie Sloan or Cece Caldwell's paint.