Yes I have done this with a 'Tamukeyama'. I purposely picked out a specimen that was slightly one-sided, removed a few branches on the 'back' side, and planted it up against a large window, not so close that the foliage is touching the glass. I have continued to prune it in this fashion, and I think it looks great. It is probably more like 18" away from the window than a foot. From the full side it looks pretty normal. From inside the house, the light comes through the foliage and is gorgeous.
One thing that you might want to consider is the orientation - if the trees are to the north, for example, they will get very little sun/maybe none. Mine is on a south-facing wall and is protected from late afternoon sun by a tree to the west. And remember, they are deciduous so they won't hid the garage much in winter...

Spaceman, Ive done it as well.Form+foliage made a real good point about them not hiding much in winter months and having a tree that favors one side...even though you coud be creative and train the tree that way. I planted an acer palmatum 'butterfly' years ago about 20" from the house. It was a stick back then and now i walk under it with no problems and im a good 6'. I limbed mine to be able to walk under it but you dont have to. This tree has never touched the house and is a good 12' tall.

C:\Users\Alan\Pictures\5-5-2012\DSC00706

Heres a shot of the trunk...about 20" from house with no problems.Sorry for double reply.My computer skills are lacking
C:\Users\Alan\Pictures\7-22-2012\DSC00804

F&F - They will be facing to the west and will get sun from about 10-11am till they are sahded by a hackberry tree at around 4pm.

I'm not so much worried about the winter view. I spend 3 seasons on the deck, and the winter hiding under 7 layers of blankets!

Nice pics Alley-cat. Mine will hopefully get to 15-18 feet, but not near as fast as I'd like!

SM13