I think you have a lot of room to choose your speakers. Your room is big enough for a 6 - 7’ triangle.. so three feet behind the speakers and three feet on either side of the speakers. And to have 4 - 5’ feet behind. If you add dampening to the front and rear walls, then at sidewall reflections you can use towers.
I prefer towers to stand mount myself. I like the coherency. I have heard and really like Joseph Audio speakers. But I am a Sonus Faber fan for me.
A few years before I retired, I did the same thing you are doing. Got my system thinking I would not want to upgrade after, but I could tweak. I think it was a great plan. I went from 45 minutes a day, to 3 + hours and it is my most enjoyable hours each day. I can’t begin to tell you how much joy my system brings to me.
FYI. For me I had bought a pair of Sonus Faber Olympica 3 for my retirement speakers (I’m not trying to convince you… these were perfect for my tastes). Anyway after a couple years of retirement I realized I could upgrade again. I over doubled my investment to what I have now. The difference was amazing and also led to the three + hours a day I spend here.
So, I think you are doing the right thing, at the right time, in the right sequence. My recommendation: don’t compromise if you can avoid it. You should have the time to enjoy it and, well, life is short… and getting shorter.