HGTV Magazine Makes Over a Room

Navy Corpsman Micah Ambrose met his would-be wife, Maryrose Pichkur, in New York City during Fleet Week 2010, but shortly after their engagement, he was deployed to Afghanistan. While there, Micah, a trained medic, assisted a Marine who lost both legs in a roadside bomb. This life-changing event helped Micah set the course for a career after the service. "I always knew I wanted to be an ER doctor, but that day sealed my plans," he says.

When Micah returned home four months later, he and Maryrose began planning their wedding and bought their first home, a 1918 three-bedroom house in Floral Park, N.Y. Micah started prepping for school entrance exams, but he didn't have a convenient place to study. That's when HGTV Magazine stepped in.

A reclaimed pine desk has plenty of drawers, while a lamp made of a beaker is a nod to Micah's time in the lab (for the how-to, go to hgtv.com/beaker-lamp). The wall space above the desk includes a teak shelf, a pinboard covered in striped fabric and an antique pair of crutches found on Etsy. Micah's Navy cap — the one he wore the night he met Maryrose — rests on the shadow box that holds his military coins.

Maui houndstooth jute 7'6" x 9'5" rug in orange, rugsusa.com