So, finishing up on the centre console, I bought two "toggle switch guards" from america (eBay... i swear I need to buy shares!), and test fit the whole assembly.
MEANWHILE I had actually pre-made a diamond stitched leather transmission tunnel cover. Unfortunately I hadn't taken any pictures of the process, but essentially I made a template from brown paper, transferred it to the faux leather, cut oversized and my wife stitched all the edges for a nice look. Here it is on the floor with the centre console positioned on top!