That’s a damn good question.
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Shallow cardboard box big enough to cover window (or make one out of wood as my friend does) paint it a dark color on the inside of the box.
Throw a curtain in the window then put the box behind the window, gives a fake depth illusion and looks legit.
Prevents light leaks too 
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Put up a cell shade on the window. Close the shade. Staple black poly around the inner window frame.
Install a closed cell shade on another window, that’s visible from similar spots on the outside of the house. Open that shade half the time. No one will notice. The more complicated you make it, the more suspicious it will be. On the front of my house I have a bathroom facing the street. It’s got identical cell shade to other bedroom that’s also facing the street. Bathroom shade is never open. Ever. No one notices that. Ever.
When you’re building boxes with random light timers and defused LEDs behind false net curtains, your next step is “Well, I need to now project a silhouette of a person into the window every once in a while or else people will notice.”
People will notice foil cardboard and paint on the glass of windows. That’s it. Oh yeah, they’ll notice grow lights shining out if it’s not covered, that too. But that’s about it.
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it really depends on the area/neighborhood. in some places, a la ghetto moi, people don’t notice gunfire & only call 911 for ambulances. 
out here the foil IS the window sometimes!
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I would use curtains and board up behind it with screws so nothing has a chance of falling exposing your grow to the world.
People have been murdered for less than what’s in my room so I wouldn’t take any risks.
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I would think they were…when it used to be illegal, we just boxed in the window, and stuck a small tv for the lite. We just had a switch on the inside of the room, to turn it on and off at will. But, again, that was when it was against the law. It may seem a bit overkill nowadays…
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good idea to distract by having a not “dangerous” second cell shade which you open and close sometimes.
In the hood, they use car window tent on the house windows. Lmao. I’ve heard of people not being able to stand the heat in the summer time. They covered their windows in tin foil. Looks like the window isn’t cover at all, from what they told me. Goodluck.
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Thank you very much for that resource 
I’ve always put up a regular looking curtain/blind that is opaque, then I just black white plastic over the whole window frame. Looks like a closed curtain from the outside.
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If you really want stealth, you should make all the windows appear the same from the outside - 24/7. I put a reflective window film (Gila) on all the windows in my entire home. This window film becomes more reflective (mirrored) when more light hits it, so in the daytime, you have complete privacy in every room (if the windows are closed). It also has the added benefit of reflecting heat from the sunlight, which helps keep the room cooler. To hide your grow light and to keep the sunlight out, put your blind(s) down and close them tight, then tape black and white poly to encase the entire window frame - black side facing the window.
Another thing I like about my Gila window film is that if the weather is nice and there’s some activity in non-grow rooms we’d rather not be visible from the outside, we can open the windows from the top (pushing the top half of the window down, rather than opening the bottom part up). This doubles up the reflective ability of the film and makes seeing inside virtually impossible - even at night.
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How much darker it is making the room?
I like the extra energy of the winter sun. As my windows are facing south. So I guess with Gila this sunlight energy will be reflected.
But it is a nice idea.
How much is the costs?
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I’m not sure how much you’ll spend. I put my Gila film on a long time ago (2005 or 2006), so the costs are higher now. However, they now have a version that’s made to install and remove over and over. I think they call it the “static” version, as opposed to peel and stick.
As for how much it darkens a room, there are a number of choices that allow you to darken it quite a bit, but mine isn’t noticeable until you open the window and see what it’s like without the film. The package stated that it reflects the heat, and it definitely lets the light in.
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