Cards are just cards, they don't vary too much as long as you get fairly decent quality ones. A poker table is just a table to a great extent too, especially once it's been covered in green felt. But to create the right atmosphere and "feel" for your home poker game, it is essential that you get your choice of poker chips right.

So what makes a poker chip a good poker chip?

Weight and Quality
It's hard to put your finger on what constitutes "quality" but you can tell a lot just by the feel. A good quality chip will be heavier than a poor flimsy plastic one so weight is certainly one of the main considerations. Look for chips that weigh 11.5g.

Chip Material
Chips are usually made from one of three materials,  plastic, clay and a plastic/clay composite. Of the three plastic is generally considered to be the poorest quality material. Plastic chips tend to be too light and can fly unexpectedly across a poker table. They don't even sound right being clicky and are best avoided if you have the means to move up to the next grade, composite chips.
Composite chips are better than plastic but not as good as clay, they are a bit of a compromise between the two. They can often be made to handle and feel just like the "real thing" and the plastic used in the construction gives them a strength that you don't find in pure clay chips.
Clay chips are just right. They are how poker chips should be and look and feel just right. For the most authentic home game poker experience, clay chips have to be your first choice.

Stacking
A big part of poker in the real world as opposed to playing on the internet is playing around with your chips. You need to twirl them around between your fingers, and you need to build them into nice tidy stacks. To do this properly the chips must be right for stacking up and not prone to falling over. The weight and quality of clay chips make them ideal for stacking. You build them up and they stay there. Lightweight plastic chips will give you ugly bundles of chips when they fall over and can only lead to frustration which can even spill over into you losing hands at the poker game.
As well as looking good in stacks, neat piles take up less table space and most importantly let you see at a glance how much money you have left in the game.