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I just took all the bits out I wanted of my NB, taped up the bits I wanted black, and started spray painting silver. It turned out alright, but it's not very durable. It can scratch very easily. However, the bits I sprayed aren't high contact areas (an example of which would be the door handle surrounds).

So if you wanna do bits that aren't touched very often, then you can probably get away with minimal preparation and hope you don't scratch them by accident
If you wanna do more high contact bits, then I'd think it through a bit more and see how you can protect it better, which unfortunately, I don't have any advice for.

Couple of coats of clearcoat over the colour may prevent damage ?

Sand back the surface first.
This will get rid of any oil, grease or silicone that may be on the surface.
If you do'nt, the paint won't stick well.
Another alternative to painting is to cover the console in vinyl or leather.