Geez, if you had a glass ceiling, you could go for the trifecta! Like Wooch said, you've got all the ingredients for some seriously screwed up room acoustics. Even the very best speakers are going to sound horrible in there until you dampen up that room quite a bit.

That said, you've got an enormous amount of choices at your disposal. Here comes the fun part: Now you've got to go listen to everything and see what you like. At your price point, I'd avoid the BestBuy's and CC's of the world and go find an actual audio dealer. Try to audition speakers in your own home as much as possible as this will allow you to see which ones interact with your (now dampened) room the most favorably.

Once you find some speakers that best suit your tastes, find a front end that compliments them. Two things to consider when looking for a front end:
1) Will it properly drive the speakers
2) Does it compliment the sound of the speakers
System synergy is paramount and just because something looks good on paper in no way implies that it will meld well with your speakers. As with the speakers, you'll need to demo as much as possible with your speaker choice in your home.

Are you getting an idea that this is going to take a while? You're right, it is. This is an investment in personal wellbeing so take your time and enjoy the journey. When a good system comes together, it's well worth it.

Hope this helps.