Although the nature of color and the person environment relationship are both well-documented, it is posited that both domains need to be integrated to understand the active role that color plays in the relationship between a person and the surrounding environment. The color person environment relationship (COL-PE) introduced in this article is an important theoretical concept for designers, and as a consequence, for environmental color researchers to investigate. The potential of color to be an active agent in the relationship between people and environments is introduced by drawing upon what is known about color and the person environment relationship from other sources. The nature of transition spaces is used to emphasize how color effects the emotional connection and disconnection between people and spaces. As an example of COL-PE, transition spaces highlight the nature of the person who is also psychologically in-transition and color as a potentially important aspect of the transitory experience. In addition, the connections between color and the constructs that we hold of the people who visit, work, or live in particular environments will be discussed briefly. Designers often focus on the object or artifact which is being colored (whether a building or a chair) as an end in itself, without considering it? any depth how the designed objects or places can influence how people experience their daily activities and each other. COL-PE is introduced as a means to address this omission and broaden designers' understandings of the potential impact of their work. The discussion of the aspects of environmental design (with particular reference to architecture and interior design), introduces the foundation of the COL-PE as a particular way of addressing color in the built environment. The principles of COL-PE are relevant for a range of disciplines involved in environmental design including urban design, landscape architecture, interior design, industrial design, and architecture. The COL-PE aims to make explicit what is often an unrecognized or tacit understanding of the role of environmental color, and thereby, the article highlights the need for research to understand the relationship more fully. (c) 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.