Is that your dryer vent? i am not liking the many twists and turns - could be a fire hazard. definitely get it cleaned well ASAP. you can certainly paint it and it will blend into the wall more.

I believe it is! It does connect to the dryer. The previous owner was a contractor and did everything himself, what kind of professional can I consult with to see if it’s safe? Plumber?

It is the right material, which is good. It should be the shortest run to the outside.

If the vent has to travel a long way and is an eyesore for you on top of that, you could consider getting a ventless dryer to eliminate it entirely ...

Not sure why that is there. At some point the home was remodeled and they moved the laundry room? If it has been original to the house then it would have been hidden in a wall. Is your laundry room not on an outside wall? Most are and this would be one reason. It is exposed, I would assume due to the cost of putting in inside a wall. The previous owners found this to be their cheapest solution. There's no reason I know if that it can't be boxed in or painted. To really hide it you need to rework all the walls in that room to encase it.

If you box it , it may be difficult to service in the future. There are several turns that would make snaking difficult even if just a dryer ventventventvent

I would talk to a new contractor and see if the dryer vent cab be moved to another spot. I agree way too many angles here . Maybe look at moving the laundry with a differnt layout.

If this is a dryer vent before you figure out how to close it, check your dryer specs how long the pipe can be. I see 5 corners just in this room and you lose 5' on every corner so that's a 25' loss just on corners most dryers are rated to have a max vent length of 35' so it looks like you exceed that already not counting more 90 degree corners on the other side.

I believe the owners added this laundry room at some point in order to create a self contained apartment in the basement to rent out. I’m not planning to lease the basement, so my understanding from your responses that I should contact a contractor to see if it can be removed altogether

You don't need a contractor. Just remove the venting and patch the holes in the walls. As well as where the venting exits to the exterior. If you ever need a dryer in the basement, just buy a ventless one.

Less than useless! It's a fire hazard. (Besides the endless turns, the many sheet metal screws further reduce air flow.)

Unless you can come up with a more direct route to the exterior, switch to a condensing dryer.

*****

Just remembered: the house we picked up last year was much renovated due to a dryer fire a few years before.