Sorry but the dormers will never be real- the entire roof would have to be restructured, trusses hate being altered.

Yes you could paint a lighter color. Can you have the contractor cut an access hole from the attic up into the dormer so you could decide later?

The first contemplation when considering false dormers is "don't".

"we are building a custom home. In the planning stages, I found a house plan I liked, but wanted to change the layout of the interior without changing the look of the exterior."

We have found the enemy, Can you remove the dormers?

Exactly how big are these dormers? Got pic?

One way is to paint the back of the glass black.

Hallett & Do: Darn, that's not what I wanted to hear about the possibility of making them real. But yes, we will have access to the attic where the dormers are if I want to decide later.

Mark Bischak: I agree about false dormers! But I wasn't considering false ones, I assumed they would be real ones all along like they were on the original plans. The changes I made to the layout shouldn't have affected whether the dormers were false, I merely swapped an oddly-placed den with an even more oddly-placed master closet. A couple of interior walls were moved around, but that's it. The spaces were practically the same size and did not affect the other dormers on the other part of the house that also ended up being drawn/built as false. Still not sure whether they were drawn wrong, or if the contractor missed it and is trying to cover his mistake (he's the one that ordered the trusses). A couple of the dormers could technically be removed (the third needs to stay for symmetry), but the false ones are already built, and if I remove them it will be considered a change order and cost me more for something that I will no longer have. Not to mention the custom-cut metal roofing that will be covering the dormers, that I would have to eat the cost on. So I'd rather just keep them, false or not. <Sigh, shrug.>

3onthetree: Sorry, I don't have a pic right now. A couple of the dormers are not very big, and could be removed if I really wanted to (see my response to Mark Bischak) but one is larger and needed for symmetry. I did consider painting the interior of the window, but with it having a black frame and grids, painting the interior black will just make it look like a black hole. Hence my question about whether painting the trusses, etc. that are in the space behind the window, white or gray would work.

I had my Marvin windows factory tinted gray for my false dormer. They look the same from the exterior, and you cannot see anything inside. Extremely pleased!

If a hole has been cut in the sheathing there is no reason to paint anything inside the attic (trusses) as you can still see through the window and then will just see painted trusses. If you want to display a mannequin or something like a Macy's window then create a little drywall box for that and put a LED light in there.

Otherwise you should paint or install a film on the backside of glass. It is done all the time on commercial storefront.

If you wanted an attic, and real dormers, the entire house and roof would need to be redesigned and rebuilt with stick framing, and become a 1 1/2 story home. That’s all completely wasted unusable space with the cheaper route of trusses. And it can never be expansion living space. If you want that expansion space, with real formers, spend another 100K and have it redone.

This is your “custom” “home designer’s issue.

Gayle Lewis: I think having the windows tinted is probably my best option! Thank you for the suggestion.

Celadon: I didn't want more livable space. The ceiling is vaulted where the largest dormer is, and would have just brought in more light. The other dormers are above a garage that has a loft area/attic for storage, but the additional light brought in by dormers would have been nice. Believe me, with the price of lumber where it is, my trusses were not "cheap" and I definitely don't have an extra $100k lying around to throw at this project. As I said before, I am leaving it as it is now and just need a solution for the space behind the windows.

One of these years I am going to start selling these for fake dormer windows.