For Saturday Night Live star and comedian Chloe Fineman, the concept of home has never been just about four walls and a roof; it has always been an extension of storytelling, performance, and a lifelong passion for interior design. Long before she was impersonating Hollywood icons on late-night television, a young Fineman was already developing a keen eye for aesthetics, influenced heavily by her upbringing and her family’s artistic inclinations.
That deep-seated appreciation for interior spaces recently took center stage when Fineman sat down with designer and host Jeremiah Brent for an episode of the Ideas of Order podcast. Produced by California Closets and hosted on the SURROUND Podcast Network, the conversation offered a rare, intimate look into how Fineman’s childhood experiences continue to shape her bicoastal life today, bridging the vibrant, fast-paced energy of New York City with the serene, soulful atmosphere of California.
Fineman’s love for interior design blossomed during her early childhood years in California, sparked when her family hired interior decorator Steven Shubel. Tasked with infusing their home with a distinct French flair, Shubel introduced a world of dramatic gold leaf accents and chic black-and-white pillows into the household. For Fineman, the experience was transformative. She spent countless hours working alongside the decorator, absorbing the nuances of spatial transformation. Coupled with frequent weekend trips to local antique stores with her parents, these early memories instilled in her an enduring reverence for beauty, craftsmanship, and historical design elements.
Growing up in a family of painters further nurtured her creative instincts. Fineman’s childhood was rich with artistic expression, whether she was pretending to be a flower fairy in the family’s rose garden, spending her summers immersed in art camp, or engaging in whimsical scarf-dancing. Reflecting on her youth, Fineman often draws playful parallels to the eccentric, artistically driven family depicted in Wes Anderson’s 2001 film The Royal Tenenbaums. Her family’s French-inspired home frequently felt less like a conventional suburban house and more like an immersive movie set, setting the stage for her lifelong fascination with cinematic spaces.
This seamless blending of film and interior design has remained a guiding principle in her adult life. Fineman notes that one of the greatest joys of watching movies and television is the visceral desire to physically step inside those beautifully crafted fictional environments. That cinematic aesthetic has naturally spilled over into her own living spaces. She recalls the reaction of her boyfriend the first time he visited her former apartment in Silver Lake, California, when he remarked that the interior looked remarkably like an HBO set designed for a television comedy centered around a young woman.
However, translating that cinematic vision into reality also requires navigating the distinct realities of bicoastal living. As an actor dividing her time between the East and West Coasts, Fineman’s design sensibilities fluctuate depending on geography, mirroring the dual identities she has cultivated in each location.
New York City, where she films Saturday Night Live, represents a bold, magnetic, and relentless force in her life. During her conversation with Brent, Fineman reflected on a memorable piece of advice she received from actor Colman Domingo when he hosted the late-night sketch show earlier in the year. Domingo described living in New York as living on a continuous dare—a daily challenge marked by eccentric urban quirks and mundane trials, from dealing with city rats to waiting in endless lines. According to Fineman, thriving in such an environment requires an immediate and unconditional love for the city’s chaotic charm, a passion she embraced from the moment she arrived.
In contrast, California represents a slower-moving, deeply serene sanctuary. Identifying fundamentally as a California girl at heart, Fineman finds balance by allowing her bicoastal lifestyle to inform her aesthetic choices. By merging the fanciful, theatrical elements of her New York experiences with the laid-back, sun-drenched tranquility of her home state, she achieves a design identity that is effortlessly chic and deeply personal.
The full conversation between Chloe Fineman and Jeremiah Brent on Ideas of Order delves even deeper into their shared fascination with iconic set designs, including a nostalgic look at the legendary Victorian house featured in the 1998 film Practical Magic, alongside broader discussions regarding Fineman’s comedic craft and evolving creative process.
Ideas of Order, the California Closets podcast, is produced by Rob Schulte at SANDOW DESIGN GROUP and is part of the SURROUND Podcast Network. More shows from the network can be found at surroundpodcasts.com.
