Years ago, annoyed that there was no laundry chute in the kids/company bathroom, I tore out a heat duct in the floor and made one. Clothes slide down a tall narrow office trash can with the bottom cut out, into a laundry bin in the basement where the washer and dryer live. I built a simple box around it and hinged the heat duct grate to the top. it was ugly but serviceable. Now, though, we are making over the bathroom in a steampunk theme, and I needed a better laundry chute.
Yesterday at goodwill I found a cheap, battered bread box with a glass window that said “bread”. I brought it home and removed the bottom — it fit perfectly over the laundry hole. I covered the sides with fake leather, tacked on, and painted the front with black chalkboard paint because the matte finish matches the steamer trunk in there. A razor blade easily removed the word “bread” and I found some other stuff to put behind the window glass. Now all I need is a good steampunky knob for the top of the door.