My background in color printing comes from the film days. See this entry.
[Printing] Setting up a color darkroom? - PentaxForums.com
I use the same philosophy when printing digital images. I must caution, that the human perception of colors is extremely variable due to this several pounds of protein sitting behind our optical sensors. This mass of protein will modify what appears to be "great color" based on its previous experience, i.e. the human Mark I eyeball can not really be trusted to produce consistent interpretations of color across various media. That is why I always suggest that people use reliable instruments to calibrate monitors. Most color paper manufactures supply icc or icm profiles that when used in conjunction with calibrated monitors will produce accurate colors across media. It is important to remember that monitors are their own supply of light - otherwise they would not be monitors - paper works on reflected light from the underlying white ahh...… paper. The color temperature and appearance of the image will vary greatly depending upon the light source. The use of monitor calibration tools and paying attention to color profiles will help in minimizing those differences.
If you are happy with the output of your printed images, then so be it. Pick the paper/ink combinations that fit what you want. What drives my choice is price, surface and longevity. When I print an image I want it to reflect what the scene looked like and will last for a long time. I have used outside printers (Costco) and they were using Fuji Archive paper so it will last a long time. My old cheap HP inkjet printer produced mediocre images but so far they have not faded to a substantial degree. My brand spanking new Epson XP-15000 is going to put me in the poor house because it blows through expensive ink like you would not believe. However, the images, on Kodak Premium Glossy paper are really nice. I bought some generic Staples Matte paper and they appear to be working out well also, the only thing I can't get good information on is information on the stability of the paper in the long term.
Just be careful when you are "comparing" between what you think is OK on the monitor and your resulting prints. Wait a while and look at the prints under different lighting conditions and then make your judgements.