A lot of good recommendations here, but I may as well throw in my two cents. As long as you're okay with listening to (rather than feeling) the bass, you can't go wrong with the smaller Harbeths. They're very natural sounding & I doubt your wife could find fault with the cabinets. If you want something more visceral than the Dynaudios are great (if you have enough power), but nowhere near as attractive.
I also had to integrate my speakers into pre-existing decor (subject to approval), and ended up with the Monitor Audio Silver 2 's. They don't quite have the cohesive character of either of the above speakers--more a jack of all trades, master of none--but I feel they beat out any floorstanders I've heard in the same price range; not only in their articulateness (they're very revealing of any upstream changes) but also in their fullness of sound. They're not exactly small, but perhaps their excellent finish & rather reasonable price will make up for it--as it did for me.
Kirk
(There's also a smaller Silver 1, but I haven't heard it.)