American actress, comedian, and Saturday Night Live star Chloe Fineman has harbored a deep-seated passion for interior design nearly all her life. Long before she was impersonating Hollywood icons on late-week television or bringing characters to life on sketch comedy stages, Fineman was cultivating an eye for aesthetics in her childhood home. That lifelong appreciation for residential design and visual storytelling recently took center stage during an in-depth conversation on the Ideas of Order podcast, hosted by interior designer Jeremiah Brent.
The episode, produced by California Closets as part of the SURROUND Podcast Network, explores the profound ways in which creative pursuits, personal identity, and the physical spaces we inhabit intertwine. For Fineman, the journey into the world of design began early, shaped profoundly by her upbringing in California and a family environment that actively encouraged artistic expression.
Reflecting on her formative years, Fineman recalls how her family hired interior decorator Steven Shubel to infuse their California residence with a distinct French flair. The project introduced a young Fineman to a world of sophisticated ornamentation, incorporating dramatic gold leaf accents and refined black-and-white pillows into the domestic landscape.
“I spent a lot of time with him as a child,” Fineman shares during her discussion with Brent, noting that the experience left an indelible mark on her developing sensibilities. She adds that her parents frequently took her and her siblings antiquing, instilling in them an appreciation that transcended mere household decoration. “It’s just a love of beauty, really,” she explains.
Growing up in a household of painters, Fineman’s creative impulses were never stifled. Her childhood reads like a whimsical bohemian fantasy, filled with days spent playing flower fairies in the rose garden, attending summer art camps, and engaging in expressive scarf-dancing. Fineman often jokingly compares her eccentric and creatively charged family dynamic to the unforgettable household depicted in Wes Anderson’s 2001 cinematic classic, The Royal Tenenbaums. Surrounded by art, color, and unconventional charm, it was perhaps inevitable that Fineman would come to view her family’s French-inspired living spaces through a theatrical lens, often feeling as though she were living on an actual movie set.
That early association between physical spaces and cinematic worlds has followed Fineman into adulthood. During her conversation with Brent, the comedian emphasizes how film and interior design remain deeply connected in her mind, influencing not just how she decorates her living spaces, but how she experiences the concept of home.
“One of the many joys of movies and TV is that feeling of wanting to live in those spaces,” she notes. That desire to inhabit a cinematic environment manifested literally in her own living arrangements. Fineman recalls an interaction with her partner when he first visited her apartment during her time living in the Silver Lake neighborhood of Los Angeles. Upon stepping inside, he remarked that the space looked precisely like an HBO television set designed for a comedy about a young woman navigating life.
Yet, for Fineman, design is just as much about geography as it is about aesthetics. As a performer who splits her time between the East and West Coasts, her design sensibilities frequently fluctuate between New York City and California, reflecting the distinct versions of herself tied to each location.
New York City, where Fineman spends her winters working on Saturday Night Live, represents a bold, magnetic, and fast-paced environment. During the podcast episode, she recounts a conversation with actor Colman Domingo, who hosted an episode of SNL earlier in the year and shared a perspective that resonated deeply with her. Domingo described living in New York as living on a dare—a continuous challenge characterized by cramped quarters, subterranean transit, and long lines. As Domingo framed it to Fineman, the city seems to say, “I dare you to have rats. I dare you to wait in line for 45 minutes.” You truly have to love the city to endure and appreciate it, a sentiment Fineman immediately embraced upon moving there.
In sharp contrast to the high-stakes, breathless cadence of Manhattan, California represents serenity, introspection, and a slower-moving rhythm. Fineman remains a California girl at heart, finding peace and grounding in the relaxed pace of the West Coast. Rather than choosing between the two distinct atmospheres, she has chosen to embrace bicoastal living, allowing her homes to mirror the duality of her lifestyle. By blending the theatrical, fanciful nature of her design inspirations with the laid-back comfort of her California roots, she has cultivated an aesthetic that she describes simply as very chic.
The full conversation between Chloe Fineman and Jeremiah Brent delves even further into their shared fascinations, exploring mutual touchstones like iconic cinematic set design—including the legendary Victorian house featured in the 1998 film Practical Magic—alongside a broader examination of Fineman’s comedic craft and underlying 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. Listeners interested in exploring further episodes can discover more shows from the network by visiting surroundpodcasts.com.
