With my first round of birds, I chose my breeds based on what was interesting and scarce. A nice but unexpected result of this was that each one laid a different size and shade of egg. The buttercup (RIP Bandit) laid cream-colored bullet-shaped eggs. The crevecoeur lays oblong white eggs that are a lot larger than I would expect from her body size. The cochin lays good-sized light-brown eggs. The red cap lays cream-colored eggs (and if I'd known what a mean thing she'd become, I never would have chosen that breed!). Nothing spectacular, but hey, I could tell who laid what just by the egg. I have yet to see an egg that even remotely resembles a store-bought egg. When I make eggs from breakfast, each kid calls out whose egg she wants that day: "I want a fried Hawkie!" or "I want two Sunny eggs, over easy!" or "A Blackie and a Sunny, cheesy scrambled!"
When I got my recent little batch of pullets, I chose them mostly for egg color. Eventually, they'll all be laying. The cuckoo marans will lay those gorgeous dark-reddish-brown eggs, and the Ameraucanas will lay the coveted blue/green. I have no idea what color to expect from my silkie bantam - I just know they'll be really small.
If you're thinking of expanding your flock to get more interesting egg colors, you might consider going in on an order of chicks with someone else. You'll get the breeds you want, and not have to invest in a couple dozen birds all at once. When I first did that, it was really helpful to print out pictures of what the chicks looked like so we knew who was getting which breed right up front.
