DupeCoat Started With a Simple Frustration
It started in the B&Q Valspar aisle, staring at hundreds of tins, scrolling through Instagram for inspiration, and realising every colour I loved came with a price tag that made no sense. Every “perfect shade” seemed to belong to Farrow & Ball, Little Greene, or another premium brand that could wipe out a renovation budget in one go.
Built to stop people panic-buying tester pots at 9:45pm.
Spent telling my wife “It’s nearly done.”
(Still not done.)
Of coffee consumed while building DupeCoat.
Mostly lukewarm.
Decoded and matched.
Yes, even the ones called “Elephant’s Breath.”
Jens Harris, Founder of DupeCoat
I’m Jens, the founder of DupeCoat — a project that started as a late‑night frustration in the B&Q paint aisle and somehow grew into the UK’s first Paint Intelligence Engine.
Like most people renovating a home, I kept falling in love with designer colours on Instagram, only to discover they belonged to £90+ tins that didn’t always hold up to real life. I wanted the look, but I also wanted durability, accuracy, and a price that didn’t make me wince. When I couldn’t find a tool that did all of that, I decided to build one myself.
DupeCoat was created in the margins of my life — during nap times, after work, and in the rare quiet moments between family chaos and a full‑time job. It’s not my primary career; it’s something I built because the problem annoyed me enough to solve it.
Today, DupeCoat hopes to help thousands of UK renovators, interior lovers, and trade professionals find the exact designer shade they want, match it scientifically, and order it directly in durable trade paint through NextDayPaint.co.uk. No guesswork. No inflated price tags. No wandering aisles wondering if “Tranquil Moonlight” is actually just beige.
My goal is simple: make choosing paint smarter, cheaper, and far less stressful, because home decorating should feel exciting, not overwhelming.